


Putting Family First

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-15
Updated: 2010-11-15
Packaged: 2019-05-30 09:13:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15093686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: When Josh suffers a personal tragedy, he needs Donna more than ever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

“Josh Lyman’s office,” Donna said as she held the phone between her ear and shoulder and continued typing.

“May I speak with Mr. Lyman please?”

“He’s in a meeting. May I take a message?”

“Actually, no. This is the Wellington Regional Medical Center emergency room in Palm Beach, Florida. I need to speak with him now if at all possible. Is there any way he can be interrupted?”

His mom. “Of course. One moment please.” Donna stood up quickly and walked to Josh’s office. She stopped at the closed door and took a deep breath, then knocked quietly and walked in.

Josh was in a meeting with a representative from the EPA, discussing polluted streams in upstate New York. He looked up when she opened the door. “Josh, you have a phone call you need to take.”

“Who is it?” he asked as he started to pick up the phone.

“No, Josh,” she said with a stern voice. He looked up at her, surprised at her tone. She turned to the young man from the EPA. “I’m sorry, Mr. Abbott, could you please give us a moment?”

“Of course. I’ll wait outside.” He stood up and walked out into the bullpen.

“Thank you,” she said, closing the door behind him.

She turned to Josh who was looking at her like she’d grown an extra arm. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s the hospital in Palm Beach.”

“My mom?” It came out as less than a whisper. 

“I think so. I’m gonna…” she pointed out to the bullpen and opened the door to leave.

“Donna,” he choked out. She turned around and looked at him, his eyes boring into hers and his hand resting nervously on the phone. He didn’t say anything else, but she knew what he was asking. She closed the door again, walked to his desk, put her hand on his forearm and gave him a small smile.

He hesitated another moment before hitting his speakerphone. “This is Josh Lyman. Is something wrong with my mother?”

“Mr. Lyman. This is April Messick, from…”

“I know. What’s wrong with my mother?”

“I’m sorry Mr. Lyman, but your mother suffered a stroke this afternoon.”

His breath caught in his throat and he stood up. “Is she…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

“She’s alive. She came in awake a half hour ago by ambulance. While admitting her, she suffered what we think was her second stroke and slipped into a coma. We’ve run an MRI, she has two infarcts, both on the right side of her brain.”

Josh dropped back into his chair and sat silently. “Mr. Lyman? Are you still there?”

Josh looked up at Donna, helplessly. It was the same look he gave her when she told him his father died. She hated that look, hated to see him hurt and confused. She squeezed his arm and then moved to his computer, got online and started looking for flights. She had to do something productive. As she typed, Josh asked the woman, “What do we do now?”

“At this point, we wait. Once she regains consciousness, we’ll have a better idea of the damage done. But you should know, Mr. Lyman, the next 24-48 hours are critical. The longer she’s unconscious, the smaller her chances of a meaningful recovery. ”

He stared at the phone like a lost child until Donna spoke quietly to him. “Josh, the next flight leaves from Reagan in an hour. After that, there isn’t another one until tonight.” He didn’t respond, so she put her hand on his forearm. “Josh. Come on.”

He focused on the sound of Donna’s voice and tried to stay calm while he spoke to the nurse. “I’m on my way. If there’s any news before I get there, please call here and ask for Donna.” Donna hit the purchase button and printed the confirmation screen.

“Yes sir, we have her on the list of family.” Of course his mother would list Donna as family. Not only would Donna be the logical choice for getting in touch with Josh, his mom loved to tease him by calling Donna her future daughter-in-law. She told him that he might be able to fool himself, and he might be able to fool Donna, but he certainly wasn’t fooling her. She knew love when she saw it. 

“Ms. Messick, This is Donna. Let me give you a few phone numbers. Do you have something to write with?” 

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Josh’s cell phone is 202-481-5226. Mine is 202-481-5227.” She looked at Josh who was sitting slumped in his chair and whispered, “Get your backpack and laptop ready to go.” Then she spoke to the woman on the phone again. “I’m going to be calling you for updates a few times an hour so Josh can check in with me from the plane. What number should I call?” The nurse gave Donna the number to the ER and they disconnected.

Josh stood up, grabbed his backpack and frantically started shoving files into it. “I don’t have time to go home and pack. And I’ve got this guy from the EPA here and I’ve got a meeting at 2:00 on the hill, and there’s a conference call...” 

She put her hand on top of his and he instantly calmed down. “Are you going to be ok on your own?” She couldn’t ask him if he needed her to go, although she desperately wanted to. Elizabeth was Josh’s only remaining family. The two of them were very close, and she could tell that Josh was hanging on by a thread. 

“Yeah. Can you…” he looked around the room.

“Get your things. I’ll drop you off at the airport; you don’t have time to park. I’m going to get rid of the guy out here. You need to hurry,” Donna looked at him for a few seconds and walked out of his office.

As she drove him to the airport, she went over some details with him. “Take a cab to the hospital when you get there. You can’t take the time to get lost. I wrote the name of the hospital and the nurse on this.” She handed him a piece of paper. “Your confirmation number for your flight is on there too, you’re on Delta. I’ll FedEx some clothes and toiletries to the hospital, they’ll be there by ten o’clock in the morning. We’ll worry about a hotel and car later, when she’s stable.”

“Ok.” He looked out the window, lost. Everything was moving in slow motion and all he could hear was the nurse, ‘your mother suffered a stroke this afternoon.’

“Josh…” she had no idea what to say to him. He looked so far away, and she wondered again if he would be ok on his own.

“I didn’t tell Leo,” he said as if he was in a trance.

“I’ll take care of it.” She got her cell out of her purse, called Leo and explained the situation. When she hung up, she turned back to Josh. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I’ll need clothes.”

She sighed. “I’m going to FedEx them to the hospital, remember?”

“You are?” She nodded. “Ok, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

He sat quietly for another minute. “She called me last night and I didn’t call her back.”

“Josh, don’t do this to yourself.” She knew this Josh all too well.

“What if she could tell she was getting sick? What if she needed me? I should’ve called her back.”

Donna tried to focus on the road and look at Josh at the same time. She settled for reaching over and putting her hand on his leg. “Josh, if she knew she was getting sick, she would have called 9-1-1. There aren’t always warning signs for strokes.”

“I still should have called her back.”

“You got home from work around midnight, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Did her message say to call, even if you got home late?”

“No. But…”

“Josh, you need to focus on your mom, not what you should or shouldn’t have done. People don’t return phone calls at midnight.”

“If it was you, I would’ve called back.”

“Yeah, well… you have no respect for my time.” He chuckled, but it was shallow and she could tell he didn’t mean it. Finally, he put his hand on top of Donna’s and they rode the rest of the way to the airport in silence.

**********

“Send her in Charlie,” the President said as he walked to a couch in his office.

Donna walked in to the Oval Office where Leo, the President, Toby, Will and CJ were sitting. “Donna, what do we know?” Leo asked.

“Not much, unfortunately. There were two strokes, both on the right side of the brain. I just talked to the hospital. She’s still in the emergency room. They’re going to transfer her to the ICU in a little bit.”

“What else?” asked CJ, taking notes.

“They think the first stroke happened before she got to the hospital, they’ve run an MRI, she’s in a coma and the next 48 hours are critical. That’s all I know.”

“When does Josh land?”

“7:30.”

“How’s he holding up?” asked Toby.

“He’s already blaming himself.”

“Thanks Donna,” said the President. “Let us know if you hear anything else.”

“Yes Sir,” she said and walked out of the room.

The President turned to Leo. “How long is she going to be here?”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t count on seeing her tomorrow. CJ, don’t say anything unless you get questions, and then keep it to the minimum.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, the minimum is all we have.”

*********

As soon as the plane touched down, Josh dialed Donna at the office. “Any news?” He had called from the phone on the plane three times, and there hadn’t been any word. 

“No change. I spoke with the hospital twenty minutes ago. Have you landed?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way to the cab stand.”

“The name of the hospital is on the sheet I gave you in the car.”

“I’ve got it.”

“How’re you holding up?”

He sighed. “Not well.”

“I’m sending some Sertaline along with your clothes. Please take it if you need it. Don’t be stubborn.” Sertaline was Josh’s PTSD medication, which he hated and rarely took.

“Ok.” He paused, and then whispered into the phone, “What am I going to see when I get there?” 

The truth was, Donna had no idea what he would see. She had never known anyone who’d had a stroke. “You’re going to see your mom. It doesn’t matter what’s hooked up to her or how she looks, she’s your mom. Remember that. You’ll call me when you talk to a doctor and see her?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok. I’m leaving here in an hour to go pack some things for you. I’ll leave my cell on. If you need anything at all…even just to talk….call me, ok?”

“Alright. I have to go.”

“I’ll talk to you soon.”


	2. Putting Family First

Josh ran into the emergency room and up to the information desk as soon as the cab dropped him off. “My name is Josh Lyman. My mother, Elizabeth Lyman was brought in this afternoon for a stroke.”

The woman he spoke to began typing into the computer, but someone spoke from behind him. “Mr. Lyman, I spoke with you this afternoon. My name is April Messick.”

He turned around to a young woman, smiling at him. “Yes, where’s my mother?”

“She’s been moved to the ICU. I’ll take you there.” She took a clipboard off the nurse’s station desk and began walking. Josh fell in step with her. “I spoke with your wife a few minutes ago. She told me your plane landed and you were on your way.”

“Who?” Josh asked, confused. 

She looked at the clipboard in her hand and scanned down midway with her finger. “Donna. I told her there was no change but that Mrs. Lyman had been moved to the ICU. She asked me to watch for you so I could show you upstairs. She didn’t want you to have to wait.”

“I don’t do it well. You said my mother was awake when she arrived this afternoon?” They entered an elevator and the nurse hit the button for the fourth floor.

“Yes. Her second stroke occurred within five minutes of her arrival, which is when she lost consciousness.”

“How did you get my number? Was she coherent when she came in?”

“Yes, she was coherent, but she didn’t give us the number. The retirement village your mother lives in keeps emergency contact information for all of their residents. They faxed it to us when she was in route. It listed you and your wife. Should we call anyone else?”

“No. My…Donna is taking care of it.” The elevator came to a stop and they stepped out. This floor was much different from the hustle and bustle of the emergency room. With the exception of a few nurses at a nurse’s station, there was no one in the hall. The only sounds he heard were from beeping monitors and someone coughing badly in a nearby room. 

They walked to a room at the end of the hall and the woman opened the door and motioned him inside. The room was softly lit and his mother lay in the middle, covered with thin blankets and surrounded by machines. Josh stared at her for several seconds before walking in any further. Finally, he set down his backpack and walked slowly to the bed. 

“I’ll send her doctor in to talk to you. Do you need anything before I go, or would you like me to call your wife?”

It took him a second to respond, and when he spoke quietly he didn’t take his eyes off his mother. “No, thank you, I’m fine. I’ll call her after I speak with the doctor.”

Once the nurse left, Josh quietly took his mother’s hand in his own. He looked at her appearance. The left side of her face had sagged dramatically and she lay so still. There were tubes in her nose and mouth, and something was attached to her right index finger, he presumed taking her pulse. There was a blood pressure cuff on her right arm, and every few minutes, a machine behind her head would beep and begin taking her blood pressure. He stood there for what seemed like hours, just watching her chest rise and fall with each breath.

“Mr. Lyman?” Josh heard his name and stood a bit straighter. He turned around to see a woman, about 55 years old, standing in the doorway.

“Yes?” His voice sounded far off to him, like it was someone else speaking.

“I’m Dr. Bomboy. I’m treating your mother.”

He reached out and shook her hand. “Josh Lyman. How is she?”

The doctor picked up Mrs. Lyman’s chart from the end of the bed and looked it over. Then she looked up at the machines behind the bed. “Her pulse and blood pressure are remaining stable without medication, which means we aren’t having to tell her heart to beat. That’s a good sign.”

“What about…” he couldn’t say the word coma. 

“It’s not uncommon for a patient to slip into a comatose state during a stroke, and it’s certainly not a sign that she won’t pull through.”

“So, she’ll just wake up?”

“Well, we certainly hope so. We’ve run an EEG, which measures brain waves. There is brain activity, and like I said, her heart is beating on its own and her blood pressure is stable. All of those things are working in our favor. However, the longer she’s unconscious, the smaller her chances of a meaningful recovery.”

“Meaning?”

“Your mother had two strokes. One was small and took place before she called for an ambulance. Possibly as long ago as yesterday, but more likely, it was while she was sleeping or sometime this morning or afternoon. The other occurred within minutes of her arrival here. We ran an MRI immediately, and located two infarcts, both on the right side of the brain. As you’re probably aware, the right side of the brain affects the left side of the body; hence, the appearance of her face.”

“Will that go away, or…”

“We don’t know. Mr. Lyman, you should know, her second stroke was severe. The second infarct is much larger than the first, which means more of the brain was affected. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to assess all the damages until and unless she regains consciousness. However, possibilities you’re looking at include paralysis of the left side of the body, lack of judgment and impulsive behavior that can be very dangerous, visual impairment, and short term memory loss.”

“And speech, right?”

“No. The left side of the brain controls speech. The stroke shouldn’t affect her speech, unless her face remains drooped like that, and then it would only be minor. I will say, however, the comatose state could have it’s own affects on the body, which is why we say the first 24-48 hours are critical.”

“And we don’t know how long she’ll…be…under?”

“No. Unfortunately, there’s no way of telling when or even if she’ll regain consciousness.” The doctor noticed Josh’s face fall. “But let me reiterate to you Mr. Lyman, her brain is functioning. That’s the first hurdle for a stroke victim.”

“Right.”

“I’m going to go check on some patients, I’ll be back in a little bit. If you need anything, just let one of the nurses know. They’ll be in and out of here checking on your mother, and there is always someone at the nurse’s station down the hall.”

“Thank you,” Josh said as he shook the woman’s hand.

When she left, Josh moved back to his mother’s bed and leaned down to her face. He quietly whispered, “They said you need to wake-up Mom.” Then he pulled a chair up close to her bed and pulled out his cell phone.

**********

The last FedEx drop was at 10:00pm, and at 8:45pm, Donna had just arrived at Josh’s apartment to pack some things for him when her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Donna?” Donna listened to Josh say her name and nearly lost it on the spot. He sounded beat and tired; his voice was hoarse and shaky. He was obviously fighting tears and she immediately thought his mother had passed away. 

“Josh. Hi.” She didn’t know what to say to him, especially if his mother died. “You got to the hospital ok?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” He took a deep breath. “She doesn’t look good; she’s so still.” Although the statement was negative, Donna sighed, relieved.

“Have you spoken with her doctor?”

“Yeah, but she said so much at once, I don’t remember it all.” He paused and tried to gain some kind of control. “She’s hooked up to so much stuff, Donna, she looks…tiny.”

Donna sat on Josh’s bed as tears slipped from her eyes. “Josh, we talked about that, remember? Just look past that stuff, she’s your mom.”

“I know, but…” he choked back a sob. “The left side of her face….it doesn’t look right. And she’s pale and kind of clammy. Her leg twitches every now and then, and when it does, I look up at her face, but she’s just lying there.”

“Josh, tell me what the doctor said. Just what you remember,” she whispered. She hoped he couldn’t hear her cry.

He closed his eyes and wiped a few tears away. “She said that there are two bleeds and that they’re on the right side of her brain, so the left side of her body is being affected.”

“What about brain waves? Did she mention that?” Donna had done some research to bone up as much as possible after Josh left work. She hated to not understand things.

“Yes, her brain is functioning, and her heart is beating on its own.”

She tried to sound positive. “That’s good, Josh. I’m not just saying that. Both of those things are really good.”

“I know, but…she’s not waking up. The longer she’s….”

“It hasn’t been that long. You have to give her some time, it hasn’t been that long.”

He took at deep breath that came out ragged. “I know.” He looked up when a woman walked in the door. “A nurse is here. I have to go.”

“You’re going to be ok?”

“I don’t know.”

“Try to eat something, you probably haven’t eaten since breakfast. Maybe you could take a walk, get some fresh air.”

“I need to stay here. I’ll call you later.”

“Ok.”

“Donna?”

“Yeah?”

After a long pause, he simply said, “Thanks.”

“Take care, Josh.” She hung up the phone and went into the bathroom to splash some water on her face. She looked in the mirror and swore at herself for letting him go alone. She should have offered to go with him. He should have asked her to go. Instead, he was there alone while his mother lay helpless. 

She quickly grabbed a few pair of jeans, a sweater, a polo shirt and a few t-shirts out of his closet. Then she went to his dresser and took out some shorts, boxer shorts and gym socks and threw them all into a bag. After that, she went into his bathroom and found his razor, toothbrush, deodorant, and toothpaste, along with the travel size shampoo and conditioner he kept for business trips. She put it all into the bag and went into the kitchen for his Sertaline, then grabbed his gym shoes on the way out the door.

**********

“There’s news?” Leo picked up the phone and asked without even a hello. 

“Nothings changed, Leo, although we do have some more details. But that’s not why I’m calling.”

“You’re at the airport.”

Donna sat stunned for just a second before she answered, “I’m on my way there now. How did you know that?” Fifteen minutes after she left Josh’s, she’d found herself at her apartment instead of the FedEx drop. Without thinking, she had gone into her room, thrown the same basic things into a bag for herself, and left for the airport. She remembered a late evening flight, and only hoped she could get there in time.

Leo smiled. They really had no idea how transparent they were. “I couldn’t believe you didn’t go with him this afternoon.”

Donna didn’t have time to think about the implications of what he just said. If she was thinking clearly, she’d worry about what that meant and what he knew about her feelings for Josh, but she just didn’t have the energy to consider it all now. “He didn’t leave any room for discussion.”

“And now?”

“I didn’t leave any room for discussion. Listen, Leo. I’ve staffed everything of his out for the rest of the week. I’ll call the pool and have them send up a sub for me, but I have to go. He sounded…I have to go.”

“I’ll call the pool Donna. You go. We’ll manage without the two of you for a while. Take care of him,” he said as he hung up. Truthfully, he felt better knowing Donna was going to be with Josh. She would be the only one to get through to him if the worst happened.

**********

Donna’s plane landed at 1:43am and as she walked through the airport, she checked her cell for messages. She had called Josh just before boarding the plane and had discretely turned her cell on several times during the 3-hour flight to check for messages from him. There had been no changes, but he had called twice. Both times she called him back from the phone on the plane and listened as he told her he had only called to update her. She knew better, however. She knew he called because…because he was lonely, because there was nothing he could do to help, because he felt guilty for not being there, because he was scared and needed someone to talk to, because he was scared and needed to talk to her. 

Donna’s thoughts drifted to Elizabeth as she waited for a cab. They had only met a few times, but Donna adored her. The first time they met was during the first campaign. His father was sick then and couldn’t make the drive to Hartford to listen to Bartlet’s speech, so Josh, Sam and Donna had driven to his parent’s house for dinner. She remembered thinking that his father was just like him, intelligent and tough, but with a heart like chocolate. His mother had commended Donna for taking care of and putting up with her only son. She was also impressed that Donna had a handle on him after only working for him for a few short months. That evening, Elizabeth had nonchalantly mentioned that Josh had never brought a girl home before. Donna played if off, saying they had worked in the car on the way, but Elizabeth had just smiled. The next time they met was at the hospital when Josh was shot. There, they got to know each other better, both of them telling Josh stories while he slept 18 hours a day. One night, at 2am, as they watched him sleep, Elizabeth told Donna about the day she and Noah met. “I didn’t fall in love with him the day we met, but I knew I would,” she said, smiling at Donna. Yes, it was safe to say, Donna never had Elizabeth Lyman fooled.

By the time she got a cab and arrived at the hospital, it was 2:20am. Even the ER seemed deserted as she walked in and towards the elevator. While waiting for it, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked ragged and tired. Any make-up had long since worn off, she had bags under her eyes, and her clothes were wrinkled. Her hair was in a ponytail, but much of it had come loose. She quickly redid it as she rode to the fourth floor. 

She asked a nurse where Mrs. Lyman’s room was and as she walked down the hall, she began to re-think her decision to come, again. After all, Josh hadn’t asked her to come. She hadn’t even told him she was coming for fear that he would tell her not to. She could walk into that room, and he could be ticked off that she had flown here to take care of him. After all, he’s a grown man and although Elizabeth’s records indicated it, she was not family. Still, she knew him better than he knew himself, and she could hear in his voice how close he was to the edge. The truth was, she didn’t know how to be anywhere else.

When she reached the room, she closed her eyes and took a long deep breath before going in. She opened the door and saw Elizabeth Lyman lying still in her bed, with the left side of her face drooped dramatically. There seemed to be tubes everywhere, and she looked very pale. Josh was sitting in a chair next to the bed, his back to Donna. He was bent over with his head in his hands, and didn’t stir when she took a few steps into the room and let the door close quietly behind her. She stood and watched him for several seconds, and then walked to the chair, slowly reached her hand out and put it on his back. “I knew you’d come,” he whispered.

“I had to.”

He sat up, turned around and looked at her. His eyes were bloodshot and his clothes were a wrinkled, but he smiled just a little at her and took her hand. “I didn’t… know how to ask.”

She smiled back and squeezed his hand. “You didn’t have to.”


	3. Putting Family First

When a nurse came in to check on Elizabeth a few minutes later, Donna let go of Josh’s hand and pulled a chair from the corner of the room over to where he was sitting by his mother. When the woman was done, she told Josh and Donna that Elizabeth’s vitals were the same and there appeared to be no change. Josh took Donna’s hand again and stared at his mother, neither saying a word for several minutes.

“How did you get here? Did you rent a car at the airport?”

“No, I took a cab.”

He looked at her. “You took a cab in the middle of the night? Donna, do you know how dangerous that is?”

She smiled at him. If he needed to fret over her to give his mind a break from his mother, she’d let him. “Josh, I was fine.”

“You should have called me.”

“So you could have stolen a car from the hospital parking lot to come and pick me up?”

He chuckled a little. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Just let me take care of you,” she whispered.

“You always take care of me,” he said as their eyes met and locked on each other.

“That goes both ways.”

**********

A few hours later, Donna finally convinced Josh to try to sleep by telling him that when his mom woke up, she’d need him rested and ready to get to work. He made her promise she’d wake him if she wanted to get some sleep herself, and made a make-shift bed out of two chairs in the corner of the room. Donna took turns watching Josh toss and turn and Elizabeth lie completely still for the remainder of the night.

A little after seven, a nurse Donna hadn’t met came in with a cup of coffee and a bagel. “Are you Donna?” she whispered when she saw Josh sleeping in the corner.

“Yes,” Donna said, somewhat surprised, and shook the woman’s hand.

“I’m April Messick. We spoke yesterday on the phone.”

Donna smiled at the woman. “April, hello. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for all your help yesterday.”

“Has there been any change?” she asked, looking at Elizabeth.

“No, none. A nurse told me a few minutes ago that the doctor will be in around nine.”

“Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do until your mother-in-law wakes up.”

“I know, I’m just hoping the doctor can answer a few ques….what?”

“I said there’s not much we can do until Mrs. Lyman wakes up. It’s pretty much wait and see at this point. I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”

Donna continued staring at the woman until Josh started stirring from his chair in the corner and they both looked over at him. “Looks like he’s waking up. I just came to bring him this coffee and bagel. If I’d known you were flying in, I would have brought more.”

Donna looked back at April. “Oh, no. This will be plenty, thank you for watching out for him.”

The nurse smiled at Donna. “I have to go. My shift starts in a few minutes.”

“It was nice meeting you, April. Thanks again for the bagel and coffee.” Once April was gone, Donna walked over to Josh and lightly ran her fingers through his hair. “Are you awake?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he croaked out and pushed the chairs apart so he could stand. “Do I smell coffee?”

“Yes, April brought it for you.”

“She brought me a sandwich last night too.”

“She must have a crush on you,” Donna said, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

“That, or you told her to take care of me.”

“I guess we’ll never know,” she replied with a small smile.

Josh stood and got his bearings, then looked at his mother. “Any change?”

“No, the doctor’ll be in around nine.”

He walked to the bed and took his mother’s hand in his own. “What if…”

“It hasn’t even been twenty four hours, Josh. It’s too soon to talk about what-ifs.” He rubbed his hand over his face and just stared at his mother. After a few minutes, Donna put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to brush my teeth and wash my face. You’ll be ok?”

“You’ll be back soon?” he looked at her and asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll be ok.” 

Once Donna was gone, Josh pulled a chair up to his mother’s bed and settled in for a long day of watching. “Good morning mother. I hope you’re more comfortable than I was last night.” He didn’t expect a reply, but was still disappointed in the silence of the room. “Donna’s here. She flew here to be with you. She adores you, you know.” Still nothing. “When you wake-up, we’re going to discuss this married thing you put on your emergency contact list. Don’t think you’re getting out of that conversation just because you’re not feeling great.”

*********

“Leo, any news on Josh’s mother?” the President asked as the senior staff walked into the Oval Office.

“No Sir. I assume she made it through the night or I would’ve gotten a call from Donna.”

“And she is…”

“In Palm Beach, as predicted. She took the red-eye last night. Toby, I’m going to need some help from your department today. She staffed out everything of his for the rest of the week, but I need you to keep an eye on things.”

“Yes, sir. They can have Ginger if they need her.”

“How kind of you to give away your employees like that, Toby,” said the President.

“Sorry Sir, what I meant was…I’ll see if Ginger has any spare time to help them out this week.”

“Much better.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Any questions from the press, CJ?” asked Leo.

“No. Katie mentioned it to me after last night’s briefing, but it’s not a story. They’re going to leave her alone.”

”Good,” said the President. “What’s next?”

**********

At 9:15, Josh was pacing the walls waiting for the doctor. Donna did her best to assure him that she would be coming as soon as possible, but it didn’t help. “She has other patients, Josh.”

“Her other patients aren’t my mother.”

She touched his arm. ”I know. I’m sure she’s on her way.” 

It was 9:30 before Dr. Bomboy arrived. She came in with a smile on her face and was immediately met with a scowl from Josh. Donna could see a confrontation brewing and decided to step in. “Good morning, doctor,” she said as she shook the woman’s hand. 

“Good morning,” the woman said and looked at Josh. “Good morning, Mr. Lyman. I hope you were able to get some sleep last night. Today could be a long day.”

“I’m used to going on very little sleep,” he said with no pleasantries.

“Well, let’s check on the patient, shall we?” She walked over to Elizabeth’s bed and looked at her chart. “I see there’s been no change.”

Donna got a notebook and pen out of her bag. “That’s what the nurses have been saying.”

“Well, her heart rate is still strong, her blood pressure is good. I’m going to order some tests to check on her brain waves. We also need to monitor her swelling. Then we’ll know more.”

Donna started writing. “There are two infarcts?”

“Yes, both on the right side. One of the strokes occurred well before she arrived at the hospital.”

“Is that why she wasn’t given TPA?”

“Yes. It’s a wonderful drug, but has to be given within three hours of the onset of symptoms or it could be fatal.”

“So, the first stroke was minor? That’s why she didn’t come to the hospital?”

“The first stroke was minor, yes. Many people don’t even know they had a stroke that small. It might have happened in her sleep, actually.”

“And the second one?”

“As I told your husband, it was severe. The more area it covers, the more damage there is, which is why I want more tests today. We need to know how much of the brain is being affected. ”

“You also said the longer she’s in a coma, the less her chances of a meaningful recovery,” added Josh.

“Yes, that’s true.”

“What about a…” Donna looked at the notebook in her hands. “Carotid endarterectomy. Is that a possibility at this point?”

Josh looked at Donna, not stunned that she had done her homework. The doctor smiled at her. “A carotid endarterectomy will only help prevent future strokes, it can’t help with this one. She needs it, but we’ll wait until she’s awake and stronger.”

“Alright.”

“Listen, I know this is hard. It’s hard for us too because we feel somewhat useless at this point. We’re going perform another EEG and MRI, as well as a cerebral angiography to give us information on the infarcts and brain waves. When the results come back, I’ll check in with you. In the meantime, she could very well still wake up.”

“When are you going to do the tests?” Josh asked as he instinctively reached for Donna’s hand.

“Someone will be in to get your mother within the hour.”

“An hour? Isn’t that a long time to wait for needed tests? Shouldn’t she have them now?” 

“We have to prep her and the lab, Mr. Lyman. I’m sending a nurse in right away to inject a dye into your mother’s neck.” Josh’s eyes got huge and he held on tighter to Donna’s hand. “It’s routine and won’t hurt her at all, but it helps us see certain blood vessels in the neck and brain better.”

“See Josh, it’s not going to hurt her,” whispered Donna. “Let them do what they need to do.”

“Once we take her upstairs, she’ll be gone for about two hours. The two of you should use that time to freshen up and eat something. As I said before, this could be a long day. If she wakes up today, we’ll have a lot of work ahead of us to determine the amount of damage and treatment options.”

“When,” Josh quietly said.

“I’m sorry?”

“You said if she wakes up.”

“Josh…” whispered Donna.

“I meant if she wakes up today Mr. Lyman. It could be tomorrow; we aren’t all that worried about the coma until it reaches 48 hours.”

“Thank you Dr. Bomboy,” Donna said as she shook the woman’s hand again with her free hand. Josh shook her hand as well and the doctor left the room.

**********

Josh watched as two orderlies rolled his mother and all of her equipment out of the room and down the hall. “Let’s go,” said Donna.

“Where?”

“One of the nurses gave me a key to a family room on the fifth floor. It has a shower and a bed. She’s going to come and get us when your mom is back.”

“But…what if she needs me?”

“They know where we’re going to be.”

“Donna…”

“Josh, it’s one floor up. The nurse knows where we’re going to be and promised to come and get us if anything happens. You aren’t going to wait in this empty room. You need a shower, you need food, you need to rest and, I can’t even believe I’m saying this, maybe watch a little CNN. You should also check in at work.” She walked over and took him by the elbow lightly. “Now let’s go.”

He let her lead him away and tried to smile. “Who made you the boss, anyway?”

“I did, several years ago. Maybe you missed it.” He chuckled and they left the room.

Once they got upstairs, they went down a hall lined with rooms. When they got to number 7, Donna unlocked the door with the key she was given and went inside. “What is this place?” Josh asked.

“They have ten of them. It’s like a hotel room for families who can’t leave the hospital. Becky said we could use it as long as we need to.” She looked around the small room. It certainly wasn’t the Hilton, but it was all they’d need. It had a twin bed with clean sheets, a television, a chair, a microwave and a bathroom. “Why don’t you take a shower?”

“No, you go first. I’ll call Leo while you’re in there.”

“You’re not going to leave and go back to your mother’s room while I’m showering, are you?”

He smiled. “No. I’m going to call Leo and then look through that bag to see what you brought me.”

“I did good.”

“We’ll see,” he said, prodding her.

Once Donna was in the shower, she closed her eyes and let the hot water run over her face for several minutes. She was achy and tired, but mostly just worried, and for a few minutes it felt good to focus on nothing but the water on her body.

When she stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later, she combed her hair and was about to put in gel when Josh knocked on the bathroom door. “Come in.”

“Hey,” Josh said walking in and to the counter, not looking at her at all. “I was beginning to think you were going to stay in there all day.”

“I needed to veg.”

“Did you leave any hot water for me?” he asked while digging some things out of his toiletries bag.

“Of course,” she said and lightly hit him on the arm. 

“Hey!” he said and looked up smiling. Then he froze in his tracks. “You’re….”

“What?” She looked at him confused.

“That’s a towel,” he said, pointing to her and swallowing.

“That’s often what people put on after getting out of the shower, Josh.”

“But…you’re all…pink,” he replied, waving his hands around her neck and chest above the towel.

“The water was really hot. It felt good,” she innocently replied.

He continued staring at her while she put gel in her hair, thinking she looked beautiful. He’d never seen her like this, with wet hair and no clothes, and there was no denying the fact that he liked it. 

When she left the room, Josh took a shower. Just like her, he let the water fall on him and just got lost in the heat and noise of the water hitting the tile. He’d been in the shower about ten minutes when Donna walked back in. “I’m in here. Don’t come out naked.”

“Did the nurse call? Has there been any news?” he asked from behind the curtain.

“No, I just came in to blow dry my hair.”

“Oh…what if you can’t hear the phone ring?”

“I brought it in here with me. It’s fine, Josh.”

“Ok.” Donna turned the blow dryer on low and started humming as she dried her hair. Josh listened but couldn’t place the song. Finally, he pulled the curtain back a little bit to talk to her, but instead just watched her. She stood there in old loose jeans and a Met’s t-shirt he’d been missing for a year or so, with wet hair and no socks and shoes. She really was beautiful. 

He’d been watching her for a minute or so before she caught his eye in the mirror. “What’ya doin’?” 

“Just looking at you,” he replied simply. “Can you hand me a towel?” She smiled, handed him a towel and went back to drying her hair. 

A minute later, Josh got out of the shower with the towel wrapped low around his waist and his hair sticking up in all different directions. He dug through his bag for deodorant, and Donna watched out of the corner of her eye as the muscles in his arms and back moved. This was a part of Josh she never got to see, and she just kind of stared. After several seconds, he caught her looking and while chuckling, he asked, “What’ya doin?” the same way she had when she caught him.

“Just looking at you,” she calmly replied. They stared at each other for a few seconds until she broke the silence. “While you get dressed, I’m going to the cafeteria to get some food. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He smiled and she turned off the blow dryer and walked out of the bathroom.

“Can you check on my mom while you’re out?”

“Of course,” she said and slipped out of the room.


	4. Putting Family First

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting on the bed in their small room eating turkey sandwiches and pretzels, watching CNN. “What did Leo have to say?”

“There was a school shooting in South Carolina. One student killed and one teacher wounded.”

“Anything else?”

“He’s worried about my mom.”

“I know. He asked me about her a lot yesterday.”

“Maybe we should get back down there.”

“It’s only been an hour, Josh. It doesn’t do us any good to be down there when she’s not,” Dona said while yawning.

“You should get some sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re yawning. You were awake all night.”

“I slept some on the plane.”

”Oh, an hour on a plane. I’m sure you’re well rested,” he said sarcastically.

“Two hours on a chair in the room. I’m sure you are too,” she answered equally as sarcastic.

He smiled at her. It didn’t matter the circumstances; Donna always made them better. “That’s different.”

“Why?”

“I’m a man.”

“Yes, of course. That makes all the difference.”

“You’re going to tell CJ I said that, aren’t you?”

“More than likely. Why don’t you rest until your mom gets back to her room,” she said, getting off the bed and moving towards the chair in the corner.

“Me? What about you?”

“I’ll be fine in the chair.”

“Donna,” he said as he lightly grabbed her wrist. He lay on the bed and pulled her towards it. “Let’s just get a little rest.”

She looked at him for several seconds and then crawled into the small bed next to him. She lay on her side, her back to him, and he lay directly behind her, but not touching her. She thought it should have felt weird, but it didn’t, and before long she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**********

Josh woke up to a soft knocking on the door. He opened his eyes and took a few seconds to figure out where he was. Yes, the hospital. His mother; a stroke. He looked at Donna for just a minute, who was sleeping on her stomach next to him, her arm draped across his chest. He picked up her arm and crawled out from underneath her, then went to the door and opened it to a nurse. Quickly, he walked into the hallway and closed the door behind him. “Is she back?”

“They’re bringing her down now.”

“What time is it?”

“One o’clock. It took a little longer than expected.”

Josh began to panic. “Did something go wrong?”

“No sir,” she said calmingly. “Everything went fine. Dr. Bomboy will be down to talk to you in an hour or so with the results.”

“Ok. I’m going to head down there now,” Josh said and started walking down the hallway.

“Mr. Lyman, you have to put on shoes,” the nurse pointed out.

“Right. Sorry.” He walked back towards the room.

“Do you need me to find Mrs. Lyman for you?”

He stared at the nurse for a minute and then shook his head. “No, she’s sleeping. She was up all night. I’ll come and get her before I talk to the doctor.” He went back into the room and quietly grabbed his gym shoes and socks before walking back out and heading to the ICU. 

Twenty minutes later, Josh’s cell phone woke Donna. She sat up and looked around. Josh was gone, probably back to Elizabeth’s room. Wondering what time it was, she climbed out of the bed and went to the ringing phone. 1:25pm. Elizabeth was scheduled to be back from her tests about 12:30, she needed to hurry downstairs. She answered the phone as she slipped on some sandals. “Hello.”

“Donna?”

“Dr. Bartlet, hello.”

“I’m sorry, I was looking for Josh.”

“Yes ma’am. I’m sure he’s in his mother’s room.”

“You’re in Florida?”

“Yes ma’am,” she said as she grabbed her own phone, her notebook and walked out the door and towards the staircase.

“Of course, I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you to answer. How is his mother?”

“I’m not sure. They sent her for…hold on a second…I wrote it down.” The First Lady smiled. Donna was nothing if not efficient. “Here it is. They sent her for an EEG, an MRI and a cerebral angiography. That was at 10:30am. It was supposed to take two hours, but I fell asleep, so I don’t know anything. I’m on my way there now.”

“You sound tired, Donna.”

“I’m fine, I’m just kind of out of it because the ringing phone woke me. Josh must’ve woken up earlier and left his phone in the room.”

Abbey smiled. “So, you’ve had a chance to check into a hotel?” She asked. ‘And the same room?’ she thought but didn’t voice.

“No, they gave us a room here, a family room. It’s not much, but we don’t want to leave the hospital. It has a bed and a shower, that’s enough for now.”

“That’s convenient. I’m sure Josh wants to be close. I’ll let you get down there Donna, but please call when you have news.”

“Yes ma’am. Thank you for calling.”

“Take care of him Donna.”

”Yes ma’am, I will.”

**********

When Donna got to Elizabeth’s room, the door was open. She peeked in, and Elizabeth looked exactly as she had before the tests. There were tubes in her mouth and nose, the left side of her face was still dramatically altered from the right, and she was still very pale. Josh was sitting in a chair next to the bed reading the paper to his mother.

“… been three years and although I’m sure he’s interested, he never takes that next step. When is enough enough?” He paused and looked at his mom. “I can’t believe you read Dear Abbey, Mom. This is so girly.” Then he looked back at the paper. “Dear Waiting, It’s time to move on, in fact you should have two years ago. Either you’re reading his feelings wrong or this friend of yours has commitment problems. You’re doing yourself a disservice by waiting on the love that’s never going to happen. Go out, date, and find a new love.” He paused. “That’s pretty harsh Mom, don’t you think? I mean, she hasn’t heard his side of the story.”

“Abbey’s full of crap,” Donna said quietly from the door. Josh looked up at her but didn’t say anything. “If she loves him, she loves him, it doesn’t matter if he feels the same way. She can go out with all the guys in the world, but she can’t tell her heart what to feel, it doesn’t work that way.”

He smiled just a little. “So, she should wait?”

“No, she shouldn't. But she has to; her heart doesn't have an off switch. Anyway," she said, looking directly at him, "He should stop being such a coward."

He looked at her for several seconds before finally saying, “I thought you’d sleep a little longer.”

She walked to the chair next to him and sat down. The moment was over. “Dr. Bartlet called to check on your mom, the phone woke me. When did you wake-up?”

“About a half hour ago. A nurse came for me when they were bringing her back,” he said, nodding at his mother.

“Any word?”

“Not yet. They said an hour.”

“You could’ve woken me up; I would’ve come down here with you.”

“I know, but you looked…comfortable. Anyway, you needed some sleep.”

“Did you get any?”

“Yeah,” he said and yawned. “About an hour and a half.”

“I didn’t hog the bed?”

He laughed a bit. “Yeah you did, but I didn’t mind.”

They sat quietly, both doing their own thing, for several minutes. Josh watched his mother’s chest rise and fall, concentrating on her arm when the machine took her blood pressure. Donna watched her face mostly, glancing at her legs that twitched occasionally. “She’s gonna be really glad that you came,” Josh said quietly a few minutes later.

Donna looked over at Josh. “No, she’s gonna be really glad that you came.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“What?”

“She’s gonna be glad that you’re here to take care of me.” 

Donna looked back at Elizabeth’s face. “Well, that’s my job.”

“Donna,” he said, rubbing his hand over his face and through his hair. “It goes well beyond your job description.”

She smiled but kept her eyes on Elizabeth. “I wasn’t talking about work.” Neither of them said anything as her words sunk in.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lyman, hello,” said Dr. Bomboy as she walked into the room. Donna looked at Josh, but he was standing up and hadn’t seemed to notice.

“How’s my mom?” he asked.

The woman looked at him and sighed. “I’m afraid the swelling has increased,” she said simply.

“What? How?” Josh asked alarmed.

“The medication isn’t working as well as we’d hoped it would. Her body’s not reacting to it. I’m ordering a different regiment, hopefully it will help.” 

Josh was visibly shaken by this news and was having a hard time standing. Donna took him by the elbow and sat him back in the chair. She softly put her hand in his hair while he put his head in his hands and propped his elbows on his knees. She spoke quietly to the doctor. “You don’t sound sure.”

“I’m not sure. There’s simply no way to know what will work until we find something that does.”

“What does this mean as far as recovery?” she asked as she continued gently running her fingers through Josh’s hair.

“Well, I don’t expect her to wake-up with the swelling as bad as it currently is, and the longer she’s in a comatose state, the greater the long term affects will be. Also, after today’s test, I’m extremely worried about more strokes. There’s major blockage in the neck veins. We’re going to have to perform the carotid endarterectomy now. I wanted to wait until she was conscious, but we need to go ahead with it.”

“You want to operate?” Josh asked as he stood up and took Donna’s hand. “She isn’t… can she… is she strong enough?”

“It’s not an invasive surgery, Mr. Lyman. I was hoping she’d be stronger, but it’s going to be fine. To be honest, it’s the least of our worries at this point.”

He closed his eyes. “When?”

“Tomorrow morning. I want to give her the rest of the day and tonight to make some progress on her own. We’ll operate first thing tomorrow.”

“It’s ok to wait?” asked Donna. 

“The body can heal itself amazingly well. I’d like to watch her for the night. See how she does on her own.”

“And if she wakes up tonight?” he asked her.

“She’ll still need the operation; but with the amount of swelling, I wouldn’t expect her to wake-up tonight.”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

The doctor looked at Josh and Donna for a few moments. “I’ll be back to check on her in a few hours. The nurses are here, if there’s any change they’ll let me know.” 

When the doctor walked out of the room, Donna looked at Josh for a few seconds before taking him in her arms and holding him for several minutes. Neither said a word.

**********

They had gone most of the day without speaking or leaving the room, both feeling helpless. Finally, at about 9:00, Donna had gone to the cafeteria and brought back sandwiches and salad for dinner. Josh only picked at his food; he was exhausted both physically and emotionally, and didn’t seem to have the strength to pick up his fork. Donna ate a bit more, but had only slept two hours in two days, and she too was feeling the effects of being awake for so long.

“I should go to her place and make sure it’s locked, I guess,” he said out of nowhere.

Donna was startled by his voice, as though she thought she had been alone, and looked up at him. “I called the retirement village yesterday afternoon after I dropped you off at the airport. They sent maintenance over to make sure everything was ok and to lock up.”

“Ok.” They continued to eat in silence for several minutes before he spoke again. “When I was a kid, we came to Florida once,” he said not talking to anyone specific. “Joanie, Dad, Mom and me. We spent three days at Disney World and then three days here at the beach.”

“How old were you then?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know; five maybe. I was afraid of sharks; Joanie made fun of me. But then she got stung by a jellyfish and we had to take her to the hospital. I wonder if it was this one.”

Donna closed her eyes for a moment before asking, “What was your favorite thing at Disney World?”

He thought for a minute. “The tea cups, but they made Dad and Joanie sick. Mom rode them with me three times.”

“Three times? You must’ve had a stronger stomach when you were little.”

He tried to laugh, but couldn’t. After a minute, he simply said, “I’m scared.”

“I am too,” she whispered.

“What if she wakes up and she’s…” his voice trailed off. “She would hate that.”

“I know.”

“What if she doesn’t… there might be some decisions I have to make in the next few weeks… days.”

She nodded. “Yes, there might be.”

“How can I…I don’t think I can… What am I going to do?” he asked, wiping tears from his eyes before they could fall.

Donna got out of her chair and sat in Josh’s lap, pulling him to her chest. “You’re going to wait until the time comes, and then you’re going to make the best decision you can. And I’m going to be right here with you the whole time,” she whispered as she held him close and he cried on her shirt.


	5. Putting Family First

By 3:30, Donna was having a hard time staying awake. She stood and paced the room, and then went to the restroom and splashed some cold water on her face, catching the sight of herself in the mirror and wincing at the bags under her eyes. She fixed her ponytail and went out on the balcony off the fourth floor waiting room to get a little fresh air. A few people sat there smoking and she laughed at the irony of it. After a few minutes, she went back into Elizabeth’s room. Josh hadn’t moved from his seat next to his mother’s bed where he’d been all day. He was holding her hand and staring at her, and Donna thought he looked as still as she did. She quietly took the seat next to him and sat, watching them both.

A few minutes later, Josh looked over and saw Donna, her eyes closed and her head bobbing a bit as she fought off sleep. “Donna, why don’t you go up to the room and get some sleep?”

Her eyes popped open. “I’m fine.”

“Donna, go. I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

She wiped a hand across her face like she’d seen him do a thousand times. “I’ll sleep when she’s in surgery,” she said as she yawned.

He looked over at her and wondered if her refusal to sleep was because she was worried about his mom or him, and decided it was probably both. He stood up and took her hand, pulling her out of her chair. “Come on. Your contacts have got to be killing you. Take them out and get some sleep. Her surgery’s scheduled for 6:00; they’re going to take her to prep her in an hour. I’ll be up then.”

“But…”

“Go, Donna. I’ll be ok for an hour,” he said looking into her eyes.

She looked at him, searching to see if he was telling the truth. “If something happens…”

“I’ll call you on your cell. Leave it on.”

She looked over at Elizabeth, lying still, and then back at Josh. “Ok, but you promise to come and sleep when she goes into surgery?”

“Yeah, save me some room,” he said smiling as he gently pushed her to the door.

Donna walked out of the room, then turned around and watched Josh go back to his place next to his mother’s bed. She watched him for a few seconds and then she walked to the stairs and slowly made her way to their room on the fifth floor. When she got there, she kicked off her sandals, took out her contacts and brushed her teeth and then quickly changed into a pair of shorts before collapsing in the bed. She was asleep almost immediately.

Two orderlies came and took Elizabeth away a few minutes after five for a four to six hour surgery. Josh watched until they entered an elevator and then went to the nurse’s station to make sure they knew where he would be. He repeated both his and Donna’s cell numbers to them and asked them to get him if there was any news at all. Then he stood and watched as the nurse from the ICU called the surgery center and relayed all of the information Josh had given her before finally going upstairs to get some sleep.

When he walked in, he saw Donna sleeping soundly in the small bed. He quietly took off his shoes and socks, then went into the bathroom, washed his face and brushed his teeth before coming back into the room. He considered trying to sleep in the chair in the corner, but this was probably his only chance at any real sleep for a while, so he walked to the bed and tried to get in without waking her.

Donna was on her side, and when Josh got in the bed, she put her hand on his chest without opening her eyes and asked groggily, “Any change?”

He adjusted a little and lay on his back, putting his hand over Donna’s on his chest. She rolled a little so she was half on top of him with her leg between his and her head in the nook between his head and shoulder. “No change, go back to sleep,” he whispered and pulled her closer. Then he closed his eyes and let himself drift off.

**********

“What have we heard about Josh’s mom?” asked CJ when she walked into Leo’s office that morning.

He looked up from the file in his hands. “The swelling in her brain is worse. She’s in surgery this morning to clean up blocked arteries going from the neck to the brain.”

“Has she been conscious at all?”

He sighed. “No.”

She sat in a chair across from his desk. “Am I wrong, or does this not sound promising?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked back at CJ. “According to Donna, the doctor is still fairly certain Elizabeth has a chance of waking. They’re worried more at this point about the long-term affects.”

She shook her head. “How’s Josh holding up?”

“He sounds shaky. But Donna’s there, so he’ll be ok.”

CJ looked at the floor. “Is this going to be the straw, Leo?” Everybody in the White House knew that Donna and Josh were crazy about each other, and she wondered if this was going to be the final push they needed to admit it.

He was quiet for a minute before answering. “I don’t know; you’d better get ready for it, just in case.”

“Alright.” She sat there for another moment, and then got up to start the day.

Just as she got to the door, Leo stopped her. “CJ?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell everyone not to call them this morning. They’re trying to get some sleep while she’s in surgery.”

“Yeah, ok,” she said and left.

**********

A vibration near Donna’s waist woke her a few minutes before noon. When she opened her eyes, she realized that she was not only lying basically on top of Josh, but she was rather comfortable doing it. When she felt the vibration again, she rolled off him a bit and onto her side so she could fish his vibrating cell phone out of his front shorts pocket. “Jeez Donna, getting a little frisky, aren’t you?” he asked with closed eyes and a husky voice as he rolled onto his side, put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, their chests touching.

“You’re one to talk,” she replied as she looked at the caller ID. “It’s the hospital.”

At that, he sat up a bit, opened his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face. He took the phone and answered it without usual pleasantries. “Is she out of surgery?” Donna sat up completely and put her ear close to the phone so she could listen.

“Yes sir,” answered the nurse on duty. “She was just taken to post-op. She’ll be there for a few more hours.”

“Can I see her?”

“Not until she’s taken back to her room.”

“What about the surgery, how did it go?” 

“The surgeon will be out in a few minutes, if you’d like to talk to him.”

“Of course I’d like to talk to him,” he snapped. 

“Josh,” Donna whispered harshly. 

He looked at her, took a deep breath and smoothed his voice. “We’ll be right down,” he said and hung up the phone. Both he and Donna quickly threw on some shoes and left the room.

**********  
“Mr. and Mrs. Lyman, I’m Dr. Wolfe. I operated on your mother.”

“Josh Lyman,” Josh said as he reached out and shook the man’s hand. “This is my…” he shook his head. “How’s my mother?”

“Ma’am,” the doctor said to Donna before turning back to Josh. “The surgery was a success, Mr. Lyman. Your mother had two major arteries clogged, which no doubt caused her strokes. We’ve cleaned both of them out; the surgery went without complications.”

“Will this have any affect on her… current state?” Josh was still unable to say the word ‘coma.’

“Not much. She may remain unconscious for longer, but the surgery shouldn’t hurt or help her current situation. What it should do is prevent any more strokes, at least for the time being.”

“The time being?” asked Donna.

“Mrs. Lyman is seventy-two years old and her body’s behaving like it. I can’t guarantee that she won’t ever have another stroke. I can say, however, that we’ve greatly reduced her risk.”

“When she regains consciousness, what will this mean as far as recovery?”

“Well, she’ll be on blood thinners, probably permanently, but she’s been receiving them since she was admitted on Tuesday. There are bandages, although small, that need to be taken care of, but the nurses will do that. The incisions will be long healed before she’s released. She’ll need an EEG once a day for the next few days, but they’ll be running frequent MRI’s to check the swelling anyway, so that won’t be a big deal. Other than that, there’s not much. Patients need to be careful of head movement for a few days, but that won’t be a problem in this case,” he said, addressing Donna but looking back at Josh.

Donna took a deep breath and almost smiled. This might be the best news they’d received so far. She looked at Josh, who had a similar expression. “Thank you, Dr. Wolfe,” Josh said and shook his hand.

“She’ll be in recovery for another two to three hours before she’s moved back to her room. Take a nap or a shower, maybe get something to eat, you’ve still got a few long days ahead of you,” he said smiling. Then he turned and walked away.

Josh and Donna went to the cafeteria and ordered, both feeling a little better. Josh wasn’t sure if it was the almost six hours of sleep or the fact that something had gone right with his mother, but he was pretty hungry, and ate an entire sandwich and order of fries. He even complained when Donna stole some of his fries, which made him feel a little more normal.

“Why do you order a salad if you’re going to eat my fries?”

“Because I’m a woman, that’s what we do. We order food that’s good for us and eat our husband’s good stuff,” she said, raising her eyebrows at Josh.

He smiled and popped a french fry in his mouth. “You noticed that, huh?”

“I was wondering if you had.”

“You were listed as my wife on my mom’s emergency contact list.”

“On your mom’s list?” Donna asked, surprised. She had just assumed it was a hospital error. She had no idea the hospital had been deceived.

“She has ideas,” he said, looking away from Donna and at the table as he popped another fry in his mouth.

Sensing an awkward moment, Donna replied, “Well, you’re mom would make a great mother-in-law.”

He chuckled and looked back at her. “Yeah she would, but I’m part of the package.”

This time Donna took a fry. “Well,” she shrugged. “At least you don’t hog the bed.”

“I’m very considerate in bed,” he said, raising his eyebrows at her.

“You’re getting back to your old self, I see,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“I feel better.”

Donna thought he looked better too. “Food, sleep and a little good news can do that for a person.”

He stretched, picked up the now empty tray and headed for the trashcan by the exit. “Yeah, now all I need is a shower.”

“I’m first,” she said as they left the cafeteria and headed for the elevators.

“No your not.”

“You just said you were considerate.”

“I said I was considerate in bed, there’s a difference.”

“My mistake,” she said laughing. The elevator doors opened and they walked in along with three other people. While looking straight ahead at the elevator doors, she asked, “She has ideas, huh?”

Josh looked around the elevator, and then back at Donna, who kept her eyes on the door. “Ideas.”

“Well… I’ve always thought she was a smart woman,” Donna replied matter-of-factly.

“One of the smartest women I’ve ever met,” he said, looking up at the ceiling.

**********

Donna was flipping through the channels when Josh walked into the bedroom wearing only a towel. It was wrapped low around his waist, and she let go of the remote, letting it fall to her lap as she stared at his pelvic bone just above the towel. She eventually lifted her eyes to his flat stomach and then his chest, which was glistening with drops of water. There was a thin white line running down the center of his chest, to the bottom of his extremely toned pectoral muscles, and another one perpendicular to the first, running across his lower chest. She’d seen it yesterday, or had it been two days ago, she’d lost track. But today, she couldn’t help staring at it as Josh sat his bag on the bed next to her and started rummaging for clean clothes.

“What?” he asked, looking at her and waving his hand in front of her face?

“Huh?” she asked, startled, jerking her head up to his face but then looking back at the scar.

“You’re staring,” he said and then chuckled. “I’m not a piece of meat, you know.” He knew what she was looking at, and was trying to lighten the mood. 

She continued looking at his chest, biting her lip. “I just…”

“It’s ok,” he said, hoping they could just drop the subject. The few women who had seen his scar had either flinched at it or avoided it; he didn’t know what to make of her studying it.

“I just… sometimes I forget how strong you are.” She tentatively reached her hand out but pulled back just before touching his chest. “Sometimes I forget that you can get through anything,” she whispered.

He watched her, amazed. She took his breath away. He reached out, took her hand in his and placed it on his chest. Her touch wasn’t at all sexual; it was more, somehow. It was full of emotion and warmth; it was soft but also strong. In one brief moment, she completely accepted his scar as part of him while at the same time treating it as his own purple heart. What he saw as a weakness, she saw as a badge of honor, his medal for surviving. 

They stood there for another minute; until Josh’s phone rang and interrupted what he thought was maybe the most intimate moment of his life. He was hesitant to answer, but thinking it might be the hospital, he let go of Donna’s hand and picked up his cell phone from on top of the television. It was Toby with a question about the meeting with Senator Hamilton he was taking for Josh. He answered, but kept his eyes pinned on Donna’s until she smiled, got up off the bed and walked into the bathroom. A minute later he heard the shower turn on and shook his head, concentrating on what Toby was saying.


	6. Putting Family First

Elizabeth was brought back to her room around three, and the afternoon melted into evening, which melted into night. Just like the previous two nights, Josh sat staring at his mother quietly, and Donna sat next to him alternating her gaze between him and Elizabeth. The forty-eight hour mark had come and gone, but due to the surgery, that had been expected. The ease of earlier in the day, however, was gone. During the night, Josh barely spoke, and Donna found herself taking walks to give him some time alone with his mom. 

Around four in the morning, Josh started getting antsy. He began pacing and Donna could read him like a book. It was getting hard for him to sit here and watch his mother. Not that it hadn’t been hard all along, but it was becoming too much. He needed a break. He refused to go upstairs to sleep, but she knew she had to get him out of his mother’s room.

“You should go to the condo, Josh.”

He was pacing, lost in his own thoughts, and her voice startled him. “Why? You said they locked it up.”

“They did, but the fridge needs cleaned out and the plants need watered; there could be bills that need to be paid. Things like that.”

“Well, I don’t have a car,” he said impatiently.

She took a long breath and told herself to stay calm. “You could take a cab.”

“I could take a cab?” He stressed the word ‘I’ and his voice rose a bit.

“Or I could take a cab, or we could take a cab. I just think you should leave for a while. You’re going stir crazy.”

“You’re giving up,” he said angrily.

“What?” she asked, surprised. Where was this coming from?

He stopped pacing and stared at her. “You keep leaving, you want me to go and clean out her house. You think I should get it ready to sell. You’re giving up.”

“Josh…”

He continued yelling at her. “If you want to go back, Donna, you can. You don’t have to be here. I know you want to leave. I know you don’t think she’s going to wake-up. I know you think it’s time for me to get ready…”

“Josh, I don’t think that at all,” she said quietly.

“You keep leaving,” he accused.

She stood up, walked over to him and said in a stern voice, “I’ve left four times in 13 hours, and only for ten minutes each time. I’m just trying to give you some time alone with her.”

“Time to say goodbye,” he accused, tears instantly pooling in his eyes. He bitterly wiped them away.

She looked at the floor, and then back at him. “No, Josh. I’m just trying to give you some privacy.”

She put her hand on his shoulder but he pulled away. “You’re giving up, that’s why you want me to close-up her house.”

“Josh, if she wakes up right now, this very second, she won’t be ready to go home for weeks, maybe months.”

“Maybe never, right?” he spit out at her.

Tears threatened to escape at his harsh words, but she knew she was his only outlet, and if this was what he needed to do, she’d let him do it. “Maybe, and that’s not giving up, that’s a fact. She’s not going to wake-up like nothing happened. You’re going to have to face reality. She might not ever be able to live alone again.” 

“But you don’t know that,” he said with a husky voice. “And you still want me to sell her house. I can’t believe you'd...” He trailed off.

She took his hand in hers, and this time when he tried to pull away, she held on tight. “Josh, I want you to clean out the fridge and pay some bills. I want you to get out of the hospital for a few hours; I want you to feel useful. I never said anything about selling the condo.” You did, she thought to herself, but didn’t say out loud.

He started to speak and then stopped. This was Donna. Donna who flew to Florida because she cared about him and his mother. Donna who was his closest friend. Donna who would do anything for him. Donna for whom he would do anything. He knew better than to think she would ever give up on him, on anything. Even now, as he tried to pull away from her, she held his hand tight, not allowing him to. He looked at the floor for several long seconds, breathing heavily. When he looked back up, his eyes were full of remorse. She smiled at him, telling him without words that it was ok, and then pulled him into her arms and held onto him. 

When he finally spoke, his head was tucked into the crook of her neck and she barely understood him. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“I didn’t mean…”

“I know. It’s ok.”

“But… you came here… and I…” 

“Shh… it’s alright.”

He was silent for several seconds, taking deep breaths, and then whispered, “I’m the one giving up, aren’t I?” 

“Shh… No, you’re just tired. You need a break, Josh. You need to get out of here. You’re not giving up.”

He pulled back and Donna gave him a small smile. He put his hands on her face and whispered again, “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be,” she answered quietly, biting her lower lip.

He studied her hard for a minute. “Why are you always here for me?”

She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “You know why.”

“Yeah,” he whispered and leaned in slowly, kissing her forehead. When he leaned back he watched her for another minute and then took his hands off her face and walked back to his mother’s bed.

It was silent in the room for several minutes after that, before he spoke again. “Will you go with me?” he asked her quietly, but kept his eyes on his mother.

“You don’t want me to stay with her?”

“We can go at seven, when they take her for the EEG and MRI,” he said. Then he added as playfully as possible. “We could even eat a real breakfast.” 

She smiled and walked back to her seat next to his. “Can we get waffles?”

He chuckled at her. “With strawberries on top.”

She pretended to ponder it before answering, “I do love strawberries.”

He took her hand in his, still looking at his mother. “I know you do.”

**********

“You got Hamilton?” Leo asked as Toby came into the oval office. 

“He’s putting up a fight.”

“What does he want?”

“Ten million for ACT/SAT preparation.”

“In a school building repair bill?” asked the President, as he looked over some notes on the bill.

“Yes.”

“Have you talked to Josh about it?” asked Leo.

“I talked to him yesterday about the meeting. He warned me this might happen. Hamilton’s big on secondary education.”

“Well call him back. He’s been on this from the beginning, he’ll know what to do.”

“Any change with his mother?” asked the President, looking up from his notes.

Leo took a deep breath and relayed what Donna had told him the previous night. “The surgery went well, but she’s still unconscious. They’re doing another MRI and EEG this morning, but they can’t do anything else but wait.” He paused and looked at Toby. “Don’t call for a few hours, he’s been trying to sleep when they have her out of the room.”

“Yes sir, anything else?”

“Make this work, Toby,” said the President. “Schools are falling apart. We need this to hit big.” Toby thanked them both and left.

Once he was gone, the President looked at Leo. “Anything I need to know about concerning Josh?”

Leo sighed. “I could make him come back, but he’d be useless.”

“Don’t make him come back.”

“This could go on for weeks, we’re going to have to consider it.”

“We’ll re-visit it later if we have to. How’s he holding up?”

“He’s got Donna. He’ll be alright.”

The President raised his eyebrows. “Will he be married when he comes back?”

Leo chuckled. “Engaged, maybe.”

**********

They told the nurse in the ICU that they’d be back in two or three hours, and Josh once again gave the woman his cell number as well as Donna’s. This time, he added his mother’s home number to the list and just like every time he’d left the ICU, he made her repeat all the numbers to make sure she’d gotten them right. Then, just to be safe, he left his business card. Donna finally took him by the arm and all but dragged him out to the waiting cab. 

Neither of them spoke for about half the drive to Elizabeth’s condo. It was only 7:15 in the morning, but it was hot out and the sun was bright. To Donna, if felt like weeks since she’d been outside. She doubted Josh would even notice or care, being the indoorsman that he was. She was getting tired too; they’d gotten some decent sleep the previous morning while Elizabeth was in surgery, but hadn’t slept since. 

“What day is it?” Josh finally asked, sounding uninterested in the answer.

“Friday,” she replied casually, still looking out the window.

It was quiet for another minute. “When did we get here?”

“Tuesday.”

“It’s only been three days? It seems like longer.”

“That’s because you’re impatient,” she said, looking away from the window and over at him.

He acted shocked. “Me, impatient? I think you have me confused with someone else.”

She smiled. “You’re right, I’m confusing you with my boss. He’s the impatient one.”

“But brilliant I bet,” said Josh, lightening the mood a bit.

“That’s a matter of opinion,” she deadpanned.

When they got to the condo, Donna immediately threw their laundry into the washing machine, then grabbed a few trash bags and started cleaning out the refrigerator. There was no need to keep anything perishable. When she opened the freezer, Josh grabbed a pint of chocolate ice cream he knew would be there. He could always count on his mom for plain old chocolate ice cream. He grabbed a spoon out of the silverware drawer and started eating it out of the container.

“What are you doing?”

He looked at her, confused. “What? I’m hungry.”

“It’s 7:30 in the morning,” she said, as if that answered it all.

He took another bite. “But I’ve been up all night, so it seems like dinner time to me.”

She shook her head. “We had dinner.”

“Eleven hours ago.”

“Still, you don’t eat ice cream at 7:30 in the morning. It’s just not done. Plus, you promised me waffles with strawberries.”

“We’ll still get breakfast. This is… an appetizer,” he said smiling.

The entire concept was mind-boggling to Donna. She thought only women did this. “And you’re just going to eat it right out of the container like that?”

He hopped up on the counter. “We’re throwing it out when we leave, it’s not like I’m ruining it for the next person who breaks into my mom’s house.”

“Well…” she didn’t really have a reply for that. She stared at him for a few seconds. “Well, I want some too.” He grinned at her, then scooped up some ice cream with his spoon and held it out for her. She looked at him and took a bite, smiling at the absurdity of it all.

After their ice cream binge, Donna went back to cleaning out the fridge while Josh went through his mother’s mail. He paid the electric and water bills, as well as the condo association fee. When he was done, he went upstairs to the spare bedroom, where Elizabeth kept her safe. Donna finished with the fridge, washed the few dishes in the sink and watered the plants before going upstairs to Elizabeth’s room and gathering some bathroom supplies, a few nightgowns and a robe, and putting it all into a carry-on bag. Then she went in search of Josh.

When she walked into the spare bedroom, he was lying in the middle of the bed on his back, asleep, holding some papers in his hand. She stood in the doorway and watched him for a few minutes, and noticed that his face was much more relaxed than it had been for the last few days. They needed to stay until the laundry was done, so she might as well let Josh get an hour or so of sleep. She crept over and took the papers from his hand, then shut the door quietly and went downstairs.

She was exhausted, but was afraid to go to sleep herself for fear that they would sleep all day. Instead, she wandered around the living room, looking at books in bookshelves and pictures in frames. There was one of Elizabeth, Noah, Joanie and Josh at a park when Josh was a toddler, and another one of Joanie and Josh with a puppy when he was about five. There was a picture of Noah, Elizabeth and Josh at one of his graduation ceremonies. She wasn’t sure if it was high school, Harvard, or Yale, but she did notice that Josh looked young, attractive, and just as egotistical as he was now. Then she noticed something that stopped her in her tracks. On a shelf in the entertainment center were two 8 X 10 photographs in matching frames; one was of Elizabeth and Noah on their wedding day and the other was of Josh and Donna at one of the inaugural balls. She stared at the two side by side pictures for a minute and smiled; apparently Elizabeth really did have ideas.

When the laundry was done, Donna went to wake Josh. She poked her head in the door and smiled. He had rolled onto his side and looked like he could sleep for another year if she let him. She was tempted to give him a few more hours and get a few herself, but she knew that he would rather be at the hospital, so she walked over to the bed, sat down on the side and gently nudged his shoulder. “Wake-up sleepy head,” she whispered.

Josh moved his head a bit and took a deep breath, but didn’t stir other than that, so she tried again. “Josh, it’s time to wake-up,” she said, still whispering. With his eyes still closed, he took her hand from his shoulder and gently tugged her until she lay in the bed next to him. 

“Come back to bed,” he said with a husky and, she thought, quite sexy voice, and she started laughing, just a bit. Then his arms went around her waist and pulled her close to him, and he brushed her forehead with his lips, and suddenly, it wasn’t so funny.

Against her better judgment, Donna relaxed in Josh’s arms and closed her eyes. Willing herself not to fall asleep, she concentrated instead on the way her head fit nicely between his chin and chest, the feeling of his chest rising and lowering against hers, and the feel of their intertwining legs. It didn’t escape her attention that their bodies fit perfectly with each other.

When it was either get up or give in to sleep, she said in a sleepy voice, “Josh, we have to get up.”

“You’re warm,” he said in that husky voice she decided she could easily get used to and pulled her even closer, if that was possible.

She sighed, not wanting to move herself. “So are you, but we have to get up. We’ve been here an hour and a half, we should get back to the hospital.”

At the word hospital, Josh opened his eyes and tried to focus. It took him just a minute to figure out where he was and why. He groaned, even more exhausted than before his nap. “What time is it?” he asked, still not letting go of her.

“Almost 9:00. You’ve been asleep for about an hour.”

He sat up and looked at her, lying on the pillow looking up at him like an angel. God was she beautiful. “Has the hospital called?”

“No, but she should be back in her room before too long, so we should get going. The laundry’s done and I put the papers you were looking at in your backpack.”

“Are we still getting waffles?” he asked, crawling over her and standing up.

She yawned. “Sure, if you want to. But if you want to get back, we can skip it.”

“No,” he said, smiling and taking her hand, pulling her up off the bed. “I promised you waffles and waffles you shall get.”

“With strawberries?” she asked as she stretched.

“Of course.”


	7. Putting Family First

They found Elizabeth’s car keys and twenty minutes later they were sitting at an IHOP, eating and fighting sleep. “You look like hell; you’ve got to get some sleep.” 

“Why, thank you Josh, what a nice thing to say.”

He looked up from his eggs. “What?”

“This is the way you compliment a woman? By telling her she looks like hell?”

He looked at her, confused. “I just meant that you need to get some sleep.”

“Because I look like hell,” she spit out at him. She wasn’t really mad, but she was tired and he didn’t need to get on her bad side.

“Hell for you,” he said and she narrowed her eyes at him. He took a deep breath and said as if it were a well-known fact, “Donna, if you didn’t shower or sleep for a month, you’d still be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but your eyes aren’t as blue as usual and they’ve got circles under them. You also have strawberry sauce on your nose, which is actually kind of cute, but you need sleep.”

She wiped her nose with a napkin and pouted at him, which was just for show. Only Josh Lyman could give such a huge compliment and not even realize it. “You don’t look much better than me. You’re hair’s sticking up and you keep yawning. Plus, you need a shower.”

“Yeah.” He leaned his head back and rubbed his hand over his face. “This could go on for a while. We’re never gonna make it like this. We’ve slept, what, eight hours in three days; that’s worse than work. We need to start sleeping a little, at least at night.”

“We could sleep in shifts,” she suggested. 

He didn’t mention that he didn’t really care for that idea; that although this week had been hell, he was enjoying the close proximity to her, especially waking-up with her. “Eventually, one or both of us is going to have to go back to work,” he pointed out instead.

She sighed. “I know.”

“I don’t like her to be alone, but I’m not doing anything here except waiting. In reality, I could wait and work at the same time. And it won’t be too long before Leo tells me so.”

“What about transferring her to DC?”

He swallowed a bite and said, “Once she’s stable, we’re going to have to.” He paused before continuing, “The papers you put in my bag are her power of attorney, living will, and insurance information. We’re gonna have to go through it at some point.”

She nodded and took a piece of bacon off his plate. He responded by taking a bite of her waffles. “So,” he said after a minute. “What’d you do while I slept?”

She smiled. “You know, typical woman stuff. Cleaning, laundry, snooping.”

He laughed and took another bite of her waffles. “Find anything good?”

“You had a dog.”

“What?”

“When you were a kid. You had a dog.”

“Scruffy. How’d you know?”

“There was a picture of you and Joanie with him.”

He nodded and picked up a piece of bacon, but just as he started to put it in his mouth, he froze. Donna smiled, knowing exactly what was going through his mind, and he looked at her and they both laughed. “I told you she has ideas,” he said. 

**********

When they arrived back at the ICU, Dr. Bomboy was standing at the nurse’s station writing on a chart. “Mr. and Mrs. Lyman, hello. I was just coming to see you.”

“How’d it go? Is she back?” Josh asked.

“Well, the EEG showed continued brain activity. She’s also healing well from the surgery. Dr. Wolfe did a wonderful job.”

“And the swelling?” 

The doctor looked at him and smiled. “It’s down. Not much, but it’s down.”

“So, she’s…”

“Showing small signs of improvement. That’s all I can tell you at this point. It’s wait and see until she regains consciousness. We’re going to continue the MRI and EEG every morning, but that’s really all we can do.”

“Thank you, doctor,” said Donna, and she and Josh headed down the hall towards Elizabeth’s room.

When they got to the room, there was a man and woman sitting next to Elizabeth’s bed, talking. Josh looked at Donna and shrugged, and she opened the door the rest of the way and walked in. The woman was talking about some sort of card rules and the man was mocking her. 

When the woman heard the door, she looked over and her mouth opened wide. “Donna. You’re Donna,” she said as she stood up, came over to Donna and gave her a huge hug. Josh stood next to Donna and watched the two of them, not sure if he should laugh at her or rescue her.

“Yes,” she said as she hugged the complete stranger back.

“Let me look at you,” the woman said, stepping back and taking Donna’s face in her hands. “You’re even more beautiful than your pictures.”

“Thank you,” Donna replied, confused.

“And you,” she said, looking at Josh. “You look so much like your father. Give me a hug.” Josh looked at Donna, who shook her head, and then gave the woman a hug.

“Let go of him, Betty, or he’s gonna turn around and fly back to the White House,” said the man as he got out of his chair and walked to them. 

The woman, Betty, let go of Josh and hit the man on the arm, which made Donna laugh a bit. “Don’t mind him,” she said to Donna. “He’s just grumpy cause he’s old. Now, I’m Betty and this is my husband Russell. We play cribbage with Liz every Friday, so we thought we’d move the game over here today.” Josh’s eyebrows shot up at the term Liz. 

“Hi Betty, I’m Donna. But I guess you already knew that.”

“Oh yes, dear. Liz talks about the two of you all the time. ‘My son’ this and ‘my son’ that, and ‘he wouldn’t get a thing done without his Donna’.” Donna smiled and looked pointedly at Josh.

“So,” asked Russell, shaking Josh’s hand. “When did you get into town?”

“Tuesday night,” replied Josh, looking over the man’s shoulder at his mother.

“Give her time, son, give her time,” the man said to Josh, patting him on the back.

“Yes sir, I’m just worried.”

“I know, son. And you,” he said, looking at Donna. “Betty’s right for once in her life. You’re stunning.”

“Thank you, sir. Josh recently told me I look like hell, so I appreciate your kind words.”

“Better be careful, Josh,” said Russell, grinning. “She’ll up and leave you for some young buck who drives a Mercedes and doesn’t notice that stain on her shirt.” Donna looked down at her shirt, and sure enough, there was a strawberry stain on it.

Josh laughed. “Yes, sir, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You know dear,” Betty said to Donna. “Men only say those things because they don’t know how to express themselves. Russell says mean things to me all the time. I know it’s his way of telling me he loves me, doesn’t stop me from beating him with his cane, though.” She looked at Russell and he rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t last a day without me,” she said to him.

“That’s because you hide my medicine.” He tuned to Josh. “She’s very controlling.” 

Josh laughed. “I know the feeling,” he said and looked over at Donna. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Betty took Donna’s hands in her own. “You do look tired, sweetheart, although you hardly look like hell. When was the last time you slept?”

“We slept yesterday during Elizabeth’s surgery.” 

“Goodness gracious, honey. You need to rest, and you have to make this man of yours sleep too. Men are dumb, they need us to take care of them.” 

“We don’t like to leave her alone,” said Josh, ignoring the fact that this woman just called him dumb.

“Well, she’s not alone today. We’ll be here. Do you two have a hotel?”

“We have a room upstairs the hospital’s letting us use.”

“Then go, both of you, get some sleep. We’ll stay right here with her the whole time.”

“But…”

“No buts, Josh,” said Russell. “It’s easier if you just let them have their way. They eventually use our devotion to get it anyway. We’ll stay. We brought books and cards, and the nurse told us she’d bring in a television.” 

Josh looked at Donna who shrugged. Why not, he thought. Elizabeth wouldn’t be alone, and they were both exhausted. And these people seemed to be good friends of his mother’s, plus they reminded him of someone, although he wasn’t sure whom. “I’ll give you my cell number, so if you want to leave for lunch or something, you can call and I’ll come back down.”

“We’re not going anywhere son, we’ll be here all day. You two get some sleep,” said Russell. 

Josh took out a business card and wrote his and Donna’s cell numbers on the back. “If there’s any change at all, call us. Or have a nurse call us; they have our numbers at the station out there. We’re in room… Donna, what room are we in?”

“Seven, just up one floor in the family unit,” she said to Betty and Russell. “If you need us, we can be back down here in two minutes.”

“Go,” said Betty. “Sleep, several hours. And shower, that’s an order.”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you,” said Josh. He put his hand on Donna’s back and led her out of the room.

**********

While Donna showered, Josh checked in with Toby and Leo. Hamilton was dragging his feet on the Education building repairs bill, and although what he wanted was admirable, they'd hung enough Christmas trees on the bill to make it topple. He told Toby to offer Hamilton co-sponsorship and the choice to co-write the education legislation that would be coming up in the next session. That should please him. Leo was still dealing with the aftermath of the school shooting. Republicans were pissed that democrats weren’t pushing for tighter security in schools, in the form of metal detectors and security guards. Democrats were pissed that republicans made it so easy for kids to get guns. CJ was just pissed that democrats and republicans were so busy arguing that they had seemed to forget that the student killed had a name and a family.

While Josh was in the shower, Donna put on a pair of shorts that said ‘sexy’ on the butt and a tank top that didn’t quite reach the top of the shorts and got into bed. Josh came out of the bathroom wearing boxers and a t-shirt, closed the curtains and got in beside her. She was on her side, facing away from him, and without even thinking about it, he rolled onto his side behind her. 

They were both drifting quickly, but just as Donna was about to fall asleep, she heard Josh speak. “I like them.” 

“Hmm… who?” she asked while letting her eyes drift closed.

He yawned and closed his eyes as well. “Betty and Russell. I like them,” he mumbled.

“Mmm hmm. Do they think…” she was having a hard time staying focused.

“Nah,” he said, putting his arm around her. “She has ideas, but she’s not…” he yawned again, “Delusional.” 

She leaned back into him a bit and sighed. “What about the contact list?” she asked, barely opening her mouth enough to get the words out.

He could feel himself falling asleep. He mumbled, “She probably thought that by the time she’d need it, we’d already be married.”

“Right.” She felt herself falling into unconsciousness. “Night.”

“Mmm... Love you.”

“You too.”


	8. Putting Family First

“How’d it go with Hamilton?” Will asked Toby while they ate in his office.

“Fine. He’s going to help draft the education legislation in the next session. He’s got ideas, he’ll be good to have on the team.”

“He’s one of the good guys.”

“Yeah,” Toby replied, reading a speech Will was working on and not really paying attention to him.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Toby looked up, and then back at the draft. “Do you expect an answer?”

Will smiled, a little uneasily. He still didn’t quite get Toby. “What’s going on with Josh and Donna?”

“They’re in Palm Beach. His mom had a stroke.”

“I know that, but if your mom had a stroke, would you take Ginger?”

Toby shrugged. “It’s different for them.”

“How different?”

He looked up again. “Why do you care? You thinking about asking Donna out on a date?”

Will chuckled. “I haven’t been around for long, but I’ve seen enough to know Josh wouldn’t appreciate that.”

“No,” Toby said, looking back at the draft again.

“Ok.”

“Yeah.”

**********

As he woke up, the first thing he noticed was that his face was buried in Donna’s hair, which smelled like peaches, and that he liked it. He smiled and pulled her a little closer to him. The second thing he noticed was that his hand on her stomach, under her shirt, and he definitely liked that too. He pried his eyes open to see that they were in basically the same position they had started in, on their sides, his arm around her. As for actually falling asleep… that he didn’t remember all to well. He must’ve been really tired. He remembered saying something about Betty and Russell, but after that, it was all a blur.

He lay still for another minute, half in and half out of consciousness, yet fully aware of Donna’s body against his. Oh, how his mother would enjoy knowing about this. In fact, maybe she planned the whole thing as some sort of….no, he knew that wasn’t true. He only wished it was. He wished that this was some sick joke, he wouldn’t even be mad, he’d be so happy to have her well.

Finally, he pulled his hand away from Donna and sat up, moving the small bed as little as possible. He stood and went to his phone, which was sitting on the television; no messages. He got a pair of shorts and a polo shirt from his bag and started to go into the bathroom, when he saw Donna stirring. He stood still, trying not to make any noise, and after a minute, she settled again.

A few minutes later, he came out of the bathroom, left a quick note, and headed down to his mother’s room. When he got there, Betty was on the phone by the window and Russell was sitting next to Elizabeth, watching his wife. “How’s the patient?” Josh asked as he walked in.

Russell looked over at him. “You’re gonna be in big trouble. It hasn’t even been five hours.”

“Well, if she wants to yell at me,” he said, looking at his mom, “She can wake-up and do it.” He sat in the chair closest to Elizabeth’s bed and took her hand in his.

“Where’s Donna?”

“Sleeping, hopefully for a few more hours. Has the doctor been in?”

“No, but nurses are in and out of here all the time.” 

Josh looked over at Betty. “You two are probably pretty bored by now.”

Russell looked at his wife and smiled. “Nah. I consider it a privilege to spend the day arguing with my wife. I live for it, in fact.”

Josh looked back at the man and smiled. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Betty got off the phone soon after. “Marjorie and Gary will be here tomorrow morning at ten,” she said as she put the phone in her purse.

“Who?” asked Josh.

Betty looked at him, noticing him for the first time. “You didn’t sleep long enough,” she said matter-of-factly. Then she switched subjects. “Marjorie and Gary are friends of your mother’s. She can’t cook for anything and he watches too much NASCAR, but they’re nice enough and they’re coming tomorrow morning to stay while you and Donna sleep. JoAnn and Arvin are coming on Sunday. JoAnn’s a gossip, don’t tell her any government secrets.”

Josh laughed. “You’ve book visitor’s for my mom?”

“No, I’ve booked rest for you,” she said, looking directly at him. He smiled and nodded. “Besides, everyone’s been wanting to come, they just didn’t know if she was allowed visitors. Now, where’s Donna?”

“Still sleeping.”

“Of course she is; she’s smarter than you,” Betty said as she started shuffling cards. “Do you play cribbage?” Josh shook his head. “Well, it’s time you learned. Russell, get out the cribbage board.”

“Are you going to badger the boy while we play?” the man asked his wife.

“Not at all, I’m just going to ask him why three nurses have referred to Donna as his wife.”

“That’s my mom’s fault,” said Josh, picking up the cards Betty dealt him.

“Really,” she skeptically said, looked over at him. “In her condition, she told several people that you and Donna are married?”

“No, she wrote it on her emergency contact list. We’ve been getting it all week.”

“And how many people have you corrected?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Josh looked at her and narrowed his gaze, then looked at Russell for help. “Leave the boy alone, Betty,” he said. “I’ll bet Donna hasn’t corrected anyone either.” He looked at Josh and nodded.

Josh nodded back and smiled. He thought about it for a minute; she hadn’t corrected anyone, and although he didn’t really know what that meant, he was pretty sure he liked it.

**********

Donna came into the room a few hours later while Josh was shuffling. “There she is, and looking much better,” said Betty.

“Hello,” Donna said, smiling at the woman. Then she looked at Josh. “You should have woken me.”

“You needed sleep,” he said, dealing the cards.

“How long have you been down here?”

“Long enough to get yelled at by Betty and lose two games of cribbage. I’ll teach you later.”

She raised her eyebrows and grabbed a chair. “No need, how ‘bout partners?”

“I told you she was smart,” Betty said to her husband. “Women versus men.”

“We’re in trouble,” Russell whispered to Josh. Josh just nodded in return.

***********

After Betty and Russell left, Josh and Donna began reading through Elizabeth’s power of attorney, living will, and insurance information. There weren’t too many surprises in her paperwork. Josh was her power of attorney if she became medically unable to take care of herself, which wasn’t a surprise. She had ample insurance, no doubt set up by her late husband, which included excellent medical insurance, nursing home insurance, and life insurance. Her living will, however, stated that if she was being kept alive by machines, said machines were to be turned off after no more than fourteen days unless significant progress had been made. When Josh read it, he immediately felt sick to his stomach and ran to the bathroom.

Donna followed him into the men’s room, hoping no one else was in there, but not letting the possibility that someone might be stop her. She could hear him vomiting as soon as she walked in, and found him in the handicapped stall, kneeling over the toilet. She went to the sink and wet several paper towels for him, and then went back into the stall and kneeled next to him awkwardly, rubbing his back with one hand and smoothing his hair with the other.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” he said, sitting down on the floor next to her, leaning against the wall.

“When has that ever stopped me?” she asked, saying it more like a statement.

“I don’t know what happened. I just…” he put his head in his hands and took several long deep breaths.

“Josh, she’s not being kept alive by machines. Dr. Bomboy said her heart is beating on its own.” 

“But the machines are feeding her,” he said, as if she were far away.

“It’s only been three and a half days. We don’t need to panic about this yet. In the meantime, let’s call her lawyer and talk to the doctor.”

“Let’s tear it up,” he said to no one in particular.

Her head snapped to the side and she looked at him. “What?”

“I’ll do it. You shouldn’t be part of it.” He sounded distant to her, like it wasn’t really him talking.

“Josh…” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

He looked up at her. “I mean it, you shouldn’t be part of it, Donna. If it ever came back around…”

“You’re just scared, you aren’t thinking. This, if it even comes to it, is eleven days away. We’ll talk to her lawyer.”

“No,” he said quickly. “We can’t. We can’t bring it up to him or he’ll make sure it’s enforced. Right now he probably doesn’t even know she’s in the hospital.” He stood and started pacing, in total political operative mode. “If he doesn’t know she’s in the hospital and I tear this up, then they won’t know and…”

“Joshua. Listen to yourself,” she interrupted as she stood up next to him. “You spend your life defending the rights of people. The right to choose, the right to privacy, the right to make their own decisions where their lives are concerned.”

“That’s different and you know it,” he yelled. “This is my mother.”

“Yes it is. Your mother has made clear rational choices and you have to let those choices stand.”

He looked at her with harsh eyes and a racing pulse. “And what if I can’t Donna? Are you going to turn me in?” 

She took a deep breath and looked directly in his eyes before responding calmly, “You’d never put me in that position.” 

He looked at her for several seconds and then closed his eyes for several more, breathing deeply. Finally, he opened them again and pulled her into his arms. “Never,” he whispered.


	9. Putting Family First

Leo called a few hours later, needing Josh to look at some figures he had e-mailed him. Josh took his laptop to the cafeteria where he could get online while Donna stayed with Elizabeth. Twenty minutes into the conversation, they had discussed the school shooting, the Education Building Repairs bill, and were currently on the topic of federal highway road construction. “Yeah, but if they want to get the funding, they’ll go along with it,” Josh said, before taking a bite of an apple.

“I don’t think we have the support we need,” Leo said, looking at the report.

“I’ll call Matt Skinner. He’s for this, he’ll know who we need to press.”

“Fine. How’s your mom?”

“Swelling’s down.”

“Have you gotten any sleep?”

“Yeah, some friends of hers came by today and stayed while we slept.”

“Good, how’s Donna holding up?”

“She’s a rock, Leo. I don’t know what I’d do without her here?”

“And how is that different from here?” he asked, chuckling.

“Point taken,” Josh said, smiling.

**********

Donna watched Elizabeth’s chest rise and fall and thought of Josh. He wouldn’t be the same once he lost her, whether it was in eleven days or eleven years. Elizabeth was his only remaining family, his only non-political acquaintance, his only mom, and in a way, his only remaining link to his father and sister.

“I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that your son is driving me insane,” she found herself saying after a few minutes of silence. “He refuses to sleep for more than a few hours at a time, and I’m lucky to get him to eat once a day. Not to mention the fact that the nurses and doctors are considering banning him from the building. We went to your condo today and he paid some bills and napped while I cleaned. What is this, the 1950’s?” A nurse came in to check Elizabeth’s catheter bag, and Donna was quiet until she left.

“So, I was thinking about Amy Gardner earlier. She works at the White House now; did you know that? Yes, five to six days a week with her, it’s like Christmas every day,” Donna deadpanned. “Anyway, I was just thinking that by now she knows Josh is here and she must know I’m here with him, and she’s probably spitting nails, and I thought you would enjoy that, considering the fact that you dislike her as much as I do.” She chuckled. “I remember that day we were on the phone and you brought her up and I was trying to pretend like I liked her and Josh together. You laughed at me. You could see right through me… you’ve always seen right through me. I never told you this, but it felt really good to hear you tell me that you were on my side and that you could tell he didn’t love her. I should have told you that, but I’m so used to pretending that it comes second nature to me now. Anyway, thanks. It helped to know that.”

The nurse came back into the room then and injected some medication into Elizabeth’s IV. Donna sat quietly and watched Elizabeth’s face for any sign of movement, but there was none. When the nurse left, she spoke again. “I was also thinking about the first time we met. I remember your husband; I remember the way he looked at you when you walked into the dining room with a pitcher of iced tea. He looked at you like you were the only woman in the world. No one else seemed to notice, but I couldn’t help thinking that just by seeing that look, I was intruding on something amazing. I also remember being absolutely positive that leaving David and coming back to the campaign was the right thing to do because he had never looked at me that way, and I wondered if anyone ever would.” She took a deep breath and wiped away a tear. 

“So right now, I can’t help wondering if you’re with your husband; if that’s why you’re reluctant to wake-up, because he’s looking at you that way and you don’t want to leave it, and if that’s the case, I can’t blame you. Josh looked at me like that. It was only once, but I would have stayed right there in the snow for the rest of my life if he had asked.”

**********

Donna went back to small talk and Josh came in the room a few minutes later, holding a tray from the cafeteria. “What are you two talking about? My amazing sense of humor?”

Donna looked over at him. “You brought dinner.”

“You’re avoiding the question.” He put the tray down on the small table. There was a hamburger and fries, as well as a chicken caesar salad and two bottles of water.

Donna looked at him. Might as well be somewhat honest, she thought. “Your mom doesn’t really care for Amy,” she said, taking a bite.

“That’s an understatement, don’t you think?”

“You know?”

“Of course. I was in the shower once and Amy answered my phone, which, by the way, she knew I hated. The next day I got a call and an earful from my mom.”

“You’re mom’s pretty likable. I don’t see how Amy got on her bad side so quickly.”

“Easy, she wasn’t you,” he said, and took a drink of his water. She looked at him and felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Sensing her embarrassment, Josh covered. “Where did you learn cribbage?”

“My grandfather. He taught me when I was eight.”

“Eight? So I didn’t stand a chance against you today?”

“Nope. Betty and Russell left the board. We could play later, if you want to.”

“So you can beat up on me some more?”

“No, so you can get better,” she said snickering. “Beating up on you is just an added bonus.”

**********

Josh and Donna spent the night playing 8 games of cribbage, stopping only when Josh finally won and called it quits on a high note. They also played gin, go fish, and crazy eights. They discussed everything from the Education Building Repairs bill to the results of the latest EEG and MRI results to Cosmo’s current quiz: “What Are You Looking For In a Mate?”

“You have to answer seriously.”

“I will.”

“Really?”

“Probably not.”

“Never mind then, I’ll do it alone.” Donna started reading to herself.

“Donna, I’m bored. It’s 4:15 in the morning. You need to entertain me.”

“Sorry Josh, I’m doing the quiz. I offered to quiz you, but you were making a joke out of it.”

“But I still want to hear your answers,” he whined.

“Too bad. If you don’t take the quiz, you don’t hear the quiz.” 

“Fine, I’ll take the quiz.”

“And you’ll answer seriously?”

He let out a deep breath. “Yes, I’ll answer seriously.”

“Ok then. Number one. On a Saturday night, you prefer to: A: Go out dancing, B: Go to dinner and a movie, or C: Rent a movie and order pizza?”

It got quiet for a minute. “Well, what’s your answer?” he asked her.

“You’re taking the quiz, not me.”

“No deal Donna; we both take the quiz.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, I know it sounds boring, but I like C.”

“Because you worked all week long and it’s nice to have one relaxing evening with just the two of you.” 

“Exactly.”

“Agreed, next.”

“Ok, number 2: ‘The Wall Street Journal is A: A waste of time, B: Vital, or C: A nice way to relax on a Sunday?”

“That’s a given.”

“Obviously. B. Number 3: Sexy is A: Sweet, B: Intelligence, or C: Confidence?”

Josh stared at her for a minute. “What’s your answer?” he asked, timidly.

She looked back at him. “Why, what’s yours?”

“I asked first.”

She spoke quietly. “Well, intelligence and confidence are both sexy.”

He smiled. “Sweet and intelligent are both sexy.”

“But you dated Amy. She’s anything but sweet.”

“Free Ride, Commander Wonderful…” 

“They were assholes, but they were intelligent.”

“Not if they let you go.”

“Good point,” she said smiling. Number 4. Disagreements are A: Leading up to fights, B: Normal and necessary, or C: Foreplay?”

Josh waved his hand in the air, as if the question was too easy. “Normal and necessary. No one agrees 100% of the time.”

“If you always agree, someone’s just placating.”

“Exactly.”

“Number 5. A: Nice house, B: Nice car, or C: Location.”

“Location.”

“Really?” she asked, looking up from the magazine at him.

“Yeah, you?”

“Location, but why did you say that?”

“School district,” he said. “You?”

“Safety for kids.”

“Agreed,” he said nodding.

“Number 6. When push comes to shove, he should be A: A provider, B: A leader, C: A partner.”

“What do you think?”

“I want a leader. I know it sounds Leave It To Beaverish, but in the tough times, I want to be able to count on him to lead me through it. But…”

“You don’t want a ruler.”

“Right. There’s a difference. He should make me feel safe, but not tell me what to do.”

“Cause you’re not an idiot who needs some guy to run her life.”

“Exactly. Plus…”

“He has to be trustworthy.”

“Yes,” she said, wondering if he was reading her mind. “If I’m going to let him lead, I need to be able to trust that he’s going to lead me the right way.”

“He has to have your best interest in mind, not his.”

“Our best interest; not mine, not his.”

“I meant ‘your’ in the plural sense,” he said.

“Oh, right. What’s your answer?”

“I want to be a leader. I want someone to give me her opinion, but in the end, trust me to do what’s best for us.”

“Even though you aren’t perfect and you might mess-up occasionally.”

“Right, it’s a big responsibility.”

“Well, she should be there to help you pick up the pieces when you fall.”

He looked at her and then over at the wall. “She is.”

She smiled, and then read the next question. “Number 7: If you were in danger, he’d A: Run for help, B: Have someone else run for help and stay with you, C: Climb out on the ledge and save you himself.”

The room got quiet and they avoided eye contact. “C,” he finally said quietly.

“But, he could get hurt himself,” she whispered.

“It doesn’t matter, he’d never leave her out there alone,” he said, looking directly at her.

She stared at him for a minute, biting her bottom lip, both of them knowing exactly what they were really talking about and both of them wondering when this quiz turned from the hypothetical to the two of them.

Breaking the silence, Donna went on. “The perfect three day weekend is spent A: On a camping trip, B: Flying home to visit family, C: At a Bed and Breakfast.”

“B.”

“You never do that.”

He looked at him mom. “I will from now on.”

“Good answer,” she said, smiling.

“I thought you’d pick the Bed and Breakfast,” he said, questioningly.

“I’d just pick being with y… him.” 

He smiled at her. “Next.” 

“Number 9. ‘Romance is A: Being swept off your feet, B: A gift after a bad day, C: A cheesy word.

“C.”

“Of course you’d think romance is cheesy,” she scoffed.

He laughed at her. “If you have to try to be romantic, you really aren’t.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” she said sternly.

“What? You want a guy who has to buy you things to make you feel special?” 

“No,” she said a little louder. “But I want a guy who pays attention to me and wants to treat me nice.”

He stood up and started ranting. “But he should always do that Donna, he shouldn’t have to plan it. You want a guy who knows you have a bad day and buys you perfume or something? Wouldn’t you rather him give you a backrub or bring you home some Cherry Garcia?”

Her head snapped in his direction. “I love Cherry Garcia.”

“I know,” he said calmly, sitting back down. “That’s why I’d bring it to you.”

“Oh.”

“So C.”

“No, B. The gift is the backrub or the Cherry Garcia.”

He thought for a minute. “Is that the kind of gift they meant?”

She shrugged. “That’s the kind of gift I want.”

“Well, I can do that.”

She nodded. “Good. That’s all I ask.”

“Ok then, that wasn’t so tough, next.”

She stared at him for a minute, wondering what was going on. “10. A summer vacation is planned by A: you, B: A joint effort, C: him.”

“A.”

“Excuse me?” she popped her head up from the magazine and looked at him like he was crazy.

“A.”

”You’re going to plan our summer vacation?”

“God no, you are.”

“That’s C.”

“Whatever, you’re planning the trip, right?”

“Of course I am.”

“Agreed, next.”

“That’s it.”

“That’s it? How’d we do?”

She added up their score, seeing as they pretty much agreed on everything. “22. You’re looking for long-lasting real love. Intelligence is important to you; you need someone who can match your wits, but who doesn’t put it above compassion. They should adore you in their own unique way; you’re not interested in Hollywood’s idea of a fairy-tail; you’d rather make your own. Yes, they should take care of you, but you want to take care of them too. At the end of the day, you simply want to lie in the arms of the person you love and believe that they’re going to be there tomorrow to put the family the two of you create first in their life.”

"Well, ok."

"Yeah."


	10. Putting Family First

When the orderlies came for Elizabeth at six, Josh and Donna had a plan. During her tests, they would shower and have breakfast, then check their e-mail and check in at the office. They could do all that and be back by 7:30 or 8:00, when Elizabeth was brought back to her room. Then, they would stay with her until Marjorie and Gary arrived around ten, and be ready to go directly to sleep, for the maximum rest time.

They headed upstairs and showered; Donna first, so she could dry her hair while Josh showered, and by 7:00, they were eating cereal and fruit in the cafeteria, where the hospital was equipped with wireless Internet. Donna checked her e-mail while Josh called Matt Skinner about the Federal Highway Road Construction bill. It was being held up in committee, and Josh was sure Matt would know why.

“They want the states to individually hire crews.”

“States can’t decide where interstates run, they won’t match up state to state,” Josh said. 

“Construction crews, not designers. They want to keep jobs state wide,” Matt replied. 

“Why?”

“Why send a crew from California to build a highway in Tennessee? Let them hire locally; it’ll save on housing costs and create jobs in each state.”

Josh thought for a minute and couldn’t think of a reason not to give it to them. Damn republicans having good ideas. “And if we give them this, it’ll get out of committee?”

“Not only that, they’ll help push it.”

“Fine. Have them draft it and e-mail it to me. I’m in Palm Beach, but I’ll look over it and get it to Leo.”

“Good.” Matt paused, not sure if he should ask. “How’s your mom?”

“The swelling’s down, but she’s still unconscious,” Josh said a bit quieter.

“You doing ok?” They were friends, but not great friends, and Matt felt kind of funny asking.

“I’m alright.”

“Ok, I’ll talk to them. Tell Donna I said hi.”

“I will.” Josh started to hang up and then suddenly said, “Wait.”

“What?” 

“How’d you know Donna was here?” Josh asked curiously. Matt just laughed at him and hung up.

“What about me?” she asked, reading an e-mail.

“Oh, nothing,” he said, staring at the phone. Drawing his attention back to her, he asked, “Any good e-mails?”

“Margaret has a blind date tonight,” she answered absentmindedly.

“Anything, you know, work related?”

“Not really,” she said, looking up. “Nothing you haven’t already talked to Leo or Toby about.”

**********

They got back to Elizabeth’s room around 8:00, clean and fed, but both a little tired. Elizabeth was brought back a few minutes later, and Dr. Bomboy came in the room around 8:30am.

Josh stood up and shook her hand, and Donna followed. “Good morning, doctor.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Lyman,” the woman said with a smile. “The swelling’s down from yesterday.”

Josh took and exhaled a deep breath and put his hand on his mother’s arm. “How about everything else?”

“Pulse and blood pressure are still good, the incisions from the surgery are good, the EEG showed brain function. Her heart rate’s a little weak, we’re monitoring it.”

Donna and Josh both smiled. Good news two days in a row, now if she’d just wake-up. “Thank you, doctor,” Josh said.

“I didn’t do much,” she said, smiling. “The new medication seems to be working better, hopefully that will continue. I’ll be back to check on her this afternoon,” she said, and left the room.

“Hear that, Mom,” said Josh. “You’re getting better. It’s time to wake-up and argue with me.” He looked at Donna, who had a smile on her face, and pulled her into a hug. After a minute, they broke apart and settled down into their usual places next to the bed.

**********

Gary and Marjorie Driscoll arrived at ten o’clock on the nose with a tin of Rice Krispie treats and a book of crosswords. Without so much as a hello, Marjorie walked over to Donna and gave her a large hug. After brief hellos and an order to sleep for at least six hours, Josh and Donna went upstairs to their room.

Josh called Leo to check in when they got to the room, and when he hung up, Donna was asleep on top of the bed, fully clothed, including shoes. “Donna,” he whispered, rubbing her back lightly as she lay there. “Come on Donna, let’s get into bed.” She moaned and rolled onto her side, but didn’t wake-up. Josh shook his head and smiled, then carefully took off her sandals and tossed them to the corner of the room. She still didn’t wake-up, so he pulled back the covers on one side of the bed and tried again. “Donnatella, roll over and get under the covers, you’re gonna get cold.”

“Kay,” she said in a childlike voice, and rolled towards Josh. He pulled the covers up over her and walked to the other side of the bed to get in next to her. They were on their sides, facing each other, and Josh lay still, watching her sleep.

“Donna,” he whispered, a few minutes later. She stirred a bit, but didn’t answer. “Donna,” he whispered again. “I look at you like that all the time, I’m just usually better at hiding it.”

“Mmm…” she mumbled and cuddled in closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

A minute later her eyes snapped open and she pulled away from him a little bit, so she could look at his face. He was still holding her, and he whispered, “I do you know. I can’t help it, you’re so amazing.”

She stared at him, wondering if she was asleep. But when his hand came up to her face and his thumb started caressing her cheekbone, she was pretty sure she’d never had a dream this nice. Still, part of her was afraid. “Josh,” she whispered.

Reading her eyes, he softly said to her, “I know I shouldn’t have listened and I know my timing sucks. My mother is unconscious one floor down and she wants this nearly as badly as we do, and we’ve barely slept in four days and we’re in a bed together and everyone we meet seems to think we’re married, and God knows I need you more than ever, but please don’t be afraid of this, Donna. This isn’t about those things, and deep down you know it.”

She bit her lower lip and looked at him. “Are you sure? Because I know this is where we’re headed, but we don’t have to get there today, not if you’re not ready.”

He smiled at her. “Not ready? It’s never been about not being ready. It’s been about a lot of things, but never not being ready to love you.”

Her eyes got big and she smiled back at him. “You love me?”

“Donna,” he said, brushing his thumb over her lips. “You had to know that. Please tell me you know that.”

She searched his eyes for what felt like an eternity, and then turned her head slightly and kissed his palm. “I do.” 

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “Do you know that I love you?”

He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them and looked at her. “Yeah, but hearing you say it… it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before.” With his hand still on her face, he gently pulled her towards him and touched his lips to hers. He could feel her lips trembling beneath his, and pulled back. She opened her eyes and looked at him, questioning his actions. “Are you ok?” he asked. She smiled and a tear slipped from her eyes. Without speaking, she leaned in and kissed him, this time letting it linger.

After several seconds, Josh opened his mouth and let his tongue brush against her bottom lip. She sighed and opened her mouth for him. As they each began exploring the other’s mouth, Josh’s hand moved from her cheek to her neck, and then down her shoulder and to her waist. When he reached the hem of her shirt, he moved his hand underneath, but stayed on her waist, his thumb making soft deliberate circles on her skin. Her arm draped around his neck, her fingers playing with the hair that curled at his collar line, and their legs slowly became tangled. 

Forty-five minutes later, they were both content to simply be in each other’s arms. Josh was lying on top of Donna, but both were still fully clothed. His legs straddled one of hers, and he leaned on his right leg, trying to keep from putting all his weight on her. His lips were fused to her neck, which he thought could easily be permanent, and he was exploring every nuance of it, the neck he had so often stared at while he should have been working. She smelled like some sort of fruit he couldn’t identify and tasted like a mixture of soap and… something new, Donnaness, he guessed. Her hair was spread out on the pillow like a fan, and he had one hand in it and the other holding himself up a little bit. He had become oddly fascinated with the extremely small strip of skin covered by her spaghetti strap tank top and nudged it over with his nose so he could lightly suck on her there. She made little sounds when he licked or chewed on certain areas, especially the spot directly behind her ear or the dip in her collarbone. He found himself going back to those places over and over trying to memorize the catch in her breath and the sigh from the back of her throat.

Donna, in the meantime, was having her own fun. Her hands were under his shirt on his back, her fingernails lightly drawing patterns in the muscles there. Every time he shifted, a different muscle would flex, and she instinctively went to that spot with her hands. She occasionally lifted her leg that was sandwiched between his, which made him moan in a way she had never heard before. 

She had one of his earlobes between her teeth when she attempted to stifle a yawn. He pulled back and looked at her amusingly. “Am I boring you already?” 

She lay back on the pillow and smiled, contentedly. “I don’t think anyone could call this boring,” she said, bringing one hand up to his face and tracing his jaw line.

“You’re tired.”

She took a deep breath. “Sadly, yes.”

He smiled at her. “You should sleep.”

“I can work quite well off of little sleep, I have a very demanding job,” she said, leaning up and kissing him full on the mouth. He opened his mouth and let her snake her tongue inside.

They continued kissing for a minute and finally, he pulled away. “Donna,” he said, kissing her nose and then her eyelid and finally her forehead, “We have all the time in the world. You need to sleep.”

“I know,” she pouted. “But, I like doing this better.”

He smiled and rolled off of her and onto his back, keeping his arms around her and pulling her half on top of him. “Me too, but we should sleep while we can.” 

She settled into him, with her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest, and he put his hand over hers and brought it to his mouth and kissed her palm. “I love you,” she whispered.

“Promise to tell me that everyday for the rest of my life,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

“I promise,” she mumbled and fell asleep.


	11. Putting Family First

Josh’s cell phone rang at 1:15, and without even opening an eye, Donna reached down onto the floor and picked it up. After only two hours of sleep, Josh was only half conscious, but still managed to take the phone from her and kiss her wrist before answering. “Hello?” he said in a groggy voice.

“Mr. Lyman, this is Ericka, from the ICU.”

“My mother?” he asked in a panicked voice as he sat up, rolling Donna to her side.

“Yes sir, she…”

“We’re on our way,” he said and hung up the phone. In just a few seconds, he had his jeans pulled on over the boxers he was wearing. He looked over at Donna, who was already on the other side of the room slipping into her sandals and picking up her purse. “Donna,” he said, but couldn’t finish his thought.

She walked over to him and quietly took him by the arm. “Come on, Josh. We need to go.”

They practically ran down the hall and the flight of stairs, but still the trip to the ICU seemed to take forever. Donna held Josh’s hand the whole time, gripping it for dear life. 

When they pushed the door to Elizabeth’s room open, they heard someone yell “clear” and then saw Elizabeth’s body jerk off of the bed. There were two doctors as well as several nurses around her bed, and they couldn’t see her face. Everyone in the room continued working, taking no notice of Josh and Donna standing in the doorway. “What’s happening?” Josh asked, panicked.

“Mr. Lyman, we need you to wait outside,” said one of the nurses.

“Tell me what’s happening with my mother,” he said in a controlled but unwavering voice. Donna gripped his hand tighter and looked past the nurse to the action happening around Elizabeth’s bed.

“You’re mother had a heart attack, Mr. Lyman, you need you to wait outside, now. Someone will be out to talk to you in a few minutes,” the nurse replied in just as stern a voice. Josh looked at her in disbelief and then looked over at his mother. Willing his feet to move, he pulled a stunned Donna into the hallway.

As soon as they were in the hall, Josh leaned against the wall and pulled Donna into his arms. She buried her head in his neck and cried. She had never seen anything like that, not in real life, to watch a doctor actually shock somebody’s heart. It was both amazing and horrifying in the same moment. “I don’t understand,” she whispered. “She was getting better.”

A few minutes later, the door to Elizabeth’s room opened and what seemed like the entire hospital staff wheeled his mother’s bed out and down the hall towards the elevator. Josh and Donna followed them, but when they got to the elevator, it was waiting and they quickly put the bed inside and the doors closed. Dr. Bomboy stepped back and watched them leave and then turned to Josh and Donna. “Mr. and Mrs. Lyman, let’s go sit down,” she said, calmly, and Josh and Donna blindly followed her into a small room a few doors down from Elizabeth’s room. 

When they stepped inside the room, Josh led a still stunned Donna to a couch and sat down next to her. She was gripping his hand so tightly that it hurt, and he thought she might be in some sort of shock. “What happened, and what’s happening now?” he asked, calmly.

“Mrs. Lyman suffered a heart attack about twenty-five minutes ago and crashed almost immediately. We shocked her heart six times before it began beating again, although it’s faint and not in a solid rhythm.” 

He looked at Donna, whose face had turned ghostly white. “And where are they taking her now?” 

“We need to talk about that. Mr. Lyman, do you hold your mother’s medical power of attorney?” He closed his eyes and nodded. “Does she have a living will?”

He looked at the doctor and then to Donna. She was sobbing nearly uncontrollably, and he pulled her to his chest. Tears pooled in his eyes as he remembered what Donna had told him the evening before. “Yes,” he choked out, kissing Donna on the forehead.

“I need a copy of it,” the doctor said, quietly. Donna, still crying, handed Josh her purse, and he pulled it out, handing it to the woman, who nodded and said, “I’ll have a copy made and give this back to you.”

“What’s happening now?” asked Josh, quietly.

“Blood and oxygen were cut off from her heart. Depending on the severity of the blockage, she needs to have either a coronary artery bypass or coronary angioplasty. However, she flat lined for fourteen and a half minutes, which also cut off oxygen and blood to her brain.”

Hearing that, Josh pulled Donna closer to him, fighting his own tears. They both listened as Dr. Bomboy continued. “Due to her strokes, I’m very concerned about this. In most cases, a heart attack followed by a stroke is unlikely, but in this case, it’s a very real possibility. Even if she didn’t or doesn’t have another stroke, the swelling in her brain has no doubt increased. And if the infarcts are larger, which they probably are, then even more of her brain will have been affected. At this point…” she looked at Josh, “Mr. Lyman, at this point, it’s quite possible that she won’t live a meaningful life, if she survives at all.”

Donna sat up and stared at the woman through tears. “Doctor Bomboy,” she said quietly, wiping her face, “This just happened. Are you sure?” 

The woman looked at both of them and shook her head. “No. We can’t be sure until she has an EEG and MRI. However, she has to be stabilized before we can run the tests. Right now, they’re working on getting a solid heartbeat. If they can’t, they’ll have no choice but to operate. Once she’s stable, we’ll run the tests. We’ll check for swelling changes and brain activity, and we’ll check to see if she’s had another stroke.”

“And if she has?” asked Josh.

“Well, that depends a great deal on this and on you,” she said, holding up the living will. “It also depends on the severity of the swelling or stroke, as well as the severity of the damage to her heart.” She stood up. “I’m not saying it’s hopeless. But, I think it would be wise to prepare yourselves.”

“Thank you,” replied Josh, who opted to continue holding Donna rather than stand up and shake the woman’s hand.

Neither Josh nor Donna said anything once the doctor left. Several minutes passed and Donna lay down on the couch with her head in Josh’s lap. The tears had stopped, it seemed as though she had cried until there were no more. Josh sat upright on the couch and ran his fingers through her hair softly, feeling surprisingly calm himself.

“Donna,” he said a few minutes later, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Yeah?” she asked with a hoarse voice.

“About earlier, in the room…” he drifted off. Donna took a deep breath. It would break her heart to hear him say that it was a mistake.

She shifted to her back, with her head still in his lap and bit her lip to hold back tears. “We didn’t know Josh. We can wait.”

He smiled a little at her. “I was just going to say that I love you…and… thank you for being here.”

She folded her hands across her abdomen. “Really? You don’t want to wait a while? I’d understand.”

He brushed his thumb over her lips and then rested it on top of hers on her stomach. “I just got you, I’m not letting you go,” he said before leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered.

**********

Fifteen minutes later, a nurse came into the room to tell them that the doctors had been able to establish a regular heartbeat without operating, and that Elizabeth had been taken for the EEG and MRI. Donna didn’t acknowledge the woman at all; Josh nodded at her and she turned to leave.

“Oh, Mr. Lyman?”

“Yes,” he said, looking up at the young woman.

“Your mother’s visitors… they’re in the waiting room. They’re asking about her, but we have very strict privacy rules. I can’t give them any information without your permission,” she said, hesitantly.

“Of course, I’m sorry. I forgot they were here. Can you please send them in here? I’ll talk to them.”

She smiled and nodded. “I’ll send them in.”

A minute later, Marjorie and Gary walked into the small room, Betty and Russell following behind them. Donna immediately stood up and hugged Betty, crying again. Josh stood and shook hands with Russell and Gary, then gave Marjorie a brief hug.

“How are you two holding up?” asked Russell.

“Well, sir, we’ve been better,” Josh said, trying to smile.

“Marjorie called us a half hour ago and said something had happened, but the hospital wouldn’t tell us anything.”

Donna broke away from Betty and stood next to Josh, taking his hand in hers. They sat on the couch again and Marjorie, Betty and George took the only other chairs in the room. Russell stood in the corner, watching with a smile as Josh put his arm around Donna. 

“Mom had a heart attack,” Josh said simply. At his words, Betty gasped.

Russell walked to his wife’s chair and put his hand on her shoulder. “Is she in surgery now?” he asked.

Josh shook his head. “She flat lined for several minutes, which stopped blood and oxygen flow to her heart and brain, so right now, they’re checking for increased swelling or signs of another stroke. Once we know the extent of the damage to her brain, we’ll decide what to do about her heart.”

Betty took a deep breath. “And what can we do to help the two of you?” 

Josh shrugged. “Nothing, really. We may need names and phone numbers from you later.”

“Of course,” she said. “If calls need to be made, I can help with that.”

“Thank you,” whispered Donna.

“Would you like me to call her rabbi?” asked Marjorie.

“She has a rabbi?” Josh asked. His family had never attended temple regularly, and his mother had told him once that she believed religion, even Judaism, got in the way of a relationship with God.

“She occasionally attends temple with us,” replied Marjorie.

He nodded. “He doesn’t need to come, but if he could pray for her, I’d appreciate it.” She smiled and then stood up and left the room. Gary followed behind her and Russell took his seat next to Betty.

Betty turned to Donna. “You look…”

“Like hell?” Donna asked, laughing through her tears.

Betty smiled. “Tired. You look tired.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t seem to stop crying,” she said. Josh tightened his grip on her a little, trying to give her some amount of strength.

“Josh,” Russell said. “Are you ready to make this decision?”

Josh looked at his lap for a minute and then up at Russell. “If I have to, yes.”

“She’s lived a full life Josh.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. “Yes, sir.”


	12. Putting Family First

  
Author's notes: This chapter ends this fic. The chapters following it are an alternative ending and pick up where chapter 10 left off.  


* * *

Dr. Bomboy came in the room about an hour after she’d left. “Mrs. Lyman is out of the lab.”

Sensing this was a moment for family, Russell stood up. “We’re going to go down to the waiting room. We’ll be there if you need us.” He smiled at Josh and led the other three out of the room. Josh held on tightly to Donna, asking her without words to stay. 

Once they were all gone, Dr. Bomboy sat in a chair across from Josh and Donna and spoke quietly. “Mr. and Mrs. Lyman, the tests show no brain activity.”

Josh took a deep breath and tried to keep from crying, unsuccessfully. He held Donna’s hand and after a quiet moment, asked, “Could that be temporary?”

“No.”

“Is there any chance the tests are wrong?”

“No.” Donna started crying again, and Josh pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head.

“Surgery couldn’t help?”

The doctor shook her head.

He stayed quiet for a minute. He had no idea how hard this would be. Sitting here, preparing for it for the last hour had done nothing to make it any easier. “And her living will…”

“States that machines aren’t to be kept on for longer than fourteen days. It doesn’t state that they must be kept on for fourteen days.”

“And you don't think there’s a chance?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m don’t.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “I need a second opinion before…” he couldn’t finish the sentence.

She smiled and nodded at him. “For our own protection, the hospital requires one. Dr. Clark will be in within an hour. He’s an excellent doctor.”

“And then, once he… if he agrees with you. Then we just…”

“That decision will be yours Mr. Lyman. The hospital can’t legally turn off the machines without your permission, at least until the fourteen-day mark. Even then, as her power of attorney, you could fight it.” He shook his head. He had no intentions of going against her wishes. “When Dr. Clark gets in, I’ll review her charts with him and then he’ll be in to examine your mother. We can go from there.”

“Ok,” he said, nodding. “Where is she now?”

“She’s in her room.”

“Can I see her?”

“Of course,” she said and stood to leave. “Mr. Lyman… I’m sorry.”

Once Dr. Bomboy left, Josh turned to Donna. “I should go tell them, I guess.” He stood up and pulled her up to stand next to him.

She wiped her face and smiled at him. “I’ll tell them. You go spend some time with your mom.”

He kissed her forehead and shook his head. “No, you shouldn’t have to tell them that. I’ll do it.”

“Are you ok?” she asked him, cupping his cheek with her palm.

He thought for a minute and then nodded slighly. “Yeah, I am.”

“You’re doing really good,” she whispered.

“I’m scared,” he said, leaning forward and resting his forehead against hers. 

“I know.”

They stayed like that for a minute, and finally he pulled away. “I’m going to go talk to them.”

“I’ll come with you,” she said, running her hands through her hair at an attempt to look somewhat decent.

“Would you…” he stopped and looked at the ground.

She took his chin in her hand and pulled his face up to eye level. “What?”

“Would you go sit with my mom? I don’t… I don’t want her to be alone,” he whispered.

She smiled at him. “Of course I will.”

He smiled back and kissed her softly on the lips, lingering for just a second before pulling back. “I love you,” he said and they left the small room together.

**********

When she walked in, she was somewhat surprised. She wasn’t sure if she had expected Elizabeth to look different, but she looked exactly the same as she had that morning. That morning, when there were signs of improvement, when they had joked around about Margaret’s blind date, when Josh had told her he loved her, when Elizabeth’s heart rate was a little weak and they were going to watch it. Why had that sentence seemed like no big deal at the time? Why had they been so concerned with the stroke that it hadn’t occurred to them that a 72 year-old woman might have a heart attack? Why had seeing them shock her body and watching it jerk off the bed like that affected her so deeply? 

She walked very quietly through the room and pulled a chair up to Elizabeth’s bed. For the first time since she had arrived in Florida, she took the woman’s hand in hers and stroked it softly with her other hand. Once again, tears started streaming down her face and she found herself speaking. “I’m in love with your son,” she said very quietly. “I know you know that, but I thought you deserved to hear it.” She looked around the room. “See, the thing is, we’re going to have children some day, Josh and I, and you’re not going to be there to spoil them. You’re not going to be there to tell them that you knew we were going to get married years before we knew, and that doesn’t seem fair.”

She was quiet for a few minutes before she spoke again. “I’ve never thanked you… for him. He’s amazing. A complete and total pain in the neck, but amazing, and I’m going to love him forever. I just wanted you to know that.”

**********

Josh walked in to the waiting room, where Russell, Betty, Marjorie, and Gary sat in a corner, talking. They grew quiet and stood up when they saw Josh come in the room. He nodded to strangers he’d seen over the last several days in the ICU unit and made his way to the four people waiting on news about his mother.

Russell instinctively reached for his wife’s hand and she held on tightly as Josh looked at them and tried to find words that might make the news easier to hear as well as say, but finally settled on the direct approach. “The tests showed no brain activity, and Dr. Bomboy says that won’t change. They’re bringing in another doctor for a second opinion, and if he says the same thing, I’m going to agree to turn off life support.” When he finished speaking, he took a deep breath while everyone looked at him for a moment. That was what they had been expecting, but expecting it didn’t make it any easier to hear.

A few minutes later, the five of them went to Elizabeth’s room, where they found Donna sitting quietly holding Elizabeth’s hand. When they came in, Donna stood and went to where Josh was standing against the wall. He pulled her in front of him and held her around the waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder as her friends said their goodbyes.

“You know, Josh. Last month your mother drove into the flower garden at the entrance of the complex,” said Gary, smiling.

“Really?” He said chuckling. “She didn’t tell me that.”

“She tried to blame it on ice.”

“In Florida?” asked Josh.

“Exactly. Then she said a deer ran out in front of her car and she had to swerve to miss it,” Gary said.

“Finally,” said Russell, “She admitted to trying to find a Met’s game on the radio and not paying attention to where she was going.”

“Well,” said Josh, laughing, “Met’s games are very important to our family.” Then he quietly added. “My dad loved the Mets.”

“She must have too. She had Russell, Bob Phillips, and me pushing her out of the flower bed at 9:45 that night so the whole neighborhood didn’t know what she’d done,” said Gary, smiling at the memory. “We made so much noise that by the time her car was out, half the complex was standing around watching us.” Donna smiled, leaned her head back on Josh’s shoulder and put her hands on top of his on her stomach as the four older people continued telling stories about Josh’s mom. 

About twenty minutes later, Russell announced that the four of them were going to go back to the waiting room. On his way out the door, he stopped and patted Josh on the shoulder. “You’re doing a fine job, son. Your parents would be proud.”

“Thank you sir,” he said quietly and watched the man leave the room. 

**********

A few minutes later, Donna left to give Josh some time alone with his mother. He sat quietly and watched her chest rise and fall with the machines hooked up to her. Eventually, he leaned his head forward and lay it on his hands, which were holding one of hers. “Mom…” he said quietly, and tears started to fall. “What am I going to do without you here? I know I haven’t spent as much time with you as I should, but I need you, you’re my mom.”

He sat up and looked at her face. “I kissed Donna today and told her I love her. You’re supposed to say that it’s about time, and that you’ve known since the day you met her on the campaign trail. And then I’m supposed to admit that I knew it then too, I was just a chicken. And then you’re immediately supposed to start bugging me about marrying her so you could change that picture in your entertainment center and finally get those grand children you’ve been waiting for.”

He was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke again. “I’m scared Mom. What if I’m not doing the right thing? What if you just need a little more time? Is that it? Do you just need more time?” He looked at her for a minute, silently begging her to answer him.

“I heard Donna talking to you last night. You know, Dad did look at you like that all the time. He loved you so much. I used to think that no one else could ever have the kind of love the two of you had, but I want that, Mom. I want it with Donna. I know it’s going to take a lot of hard work, but we’re gonna get there.”

“Russell said you’ve lived a full life. You have, right? I know you never got those grandchildren, but you had a husband who adored you and two children and a home and a career that you loved. I know it wasn’t always easy, but you lived a full life, right? See, I was thinking that it wasn’t fair and then it occurred to me that maybe you’re just done. You’re done living without your husband and your little girl and for you, it’s time to go to them. Are you with them now? Is that how it works? Cause I still want you to come back here, but that’s really selfish, isn’t it? You’ve lived without him for six years, who am I to want you to live without him for even longer? Except that I’m your son and you’re my mom and I want you here with me because I do.”

“I miss them Mom, and I miss you too. If that is how it works, if you are with them or if you’re going to be, will you tell them that? Tell them I love them and I miss them. And tell them about Donna. Dad met her, but he was pretty sick, he might not remember her too much. And Joanie never met her. Tell them about her. Tell them how she has me pegged and how she thinks I’m wonderful even though you and I both know that she’s the wonderful one. Tell them that I’m going to be happy and I’m going to be ok, because I have her and she’s going to take care of me and I’m going to take care of her.”

“I’m going to marry her someday mom. I know you know that, but I wanted you to hear it. I’m going to marry her, if Leo doesn’t kill me for dating her, and we’re going to have children, your grandchildren. I hope we have a girl, and I hope she has Donna’s hair and eyes and my curls and your laugh and Joanie’s love of music. And she’s gonna own me, Mom. She’s gonna have me wrapped around her little finger. A miniature Donna, I don’t stand a chance. I wish you could see her Mom, she’s gonna be so beautiful. And if we have a boy, he’s gonna be… what did you call me when I was a kid? Rambunctious? He’s going to be rambunctious, and bright, and I’m going to do my best to be the kind of father Dad was; I promise.”

“Mr. Lyman,” Dr. Bomboy said quietly.

He wiped his eyes with his hands and turned around. Dr. Bomboy was standing with a man in his 60’s, who reminded Josh of Leo a little bit. He kissed his mother’s hand, then stood up and went to where they were standing. “Josh Lyman,” he said, reaching out and shaking the man’s hand.

“Mr. Lyman, I’m Edward Clark, a neurologist on staff here.”

“Thank you for coming.”

Dr. Bomboy looked at Josh. “I’ve been reviewing your mother’s chart with him, Mr. Lyman.”

He looked at the man. “And you agree with her assessment?”

“Yes I do. You’re mother’s brain is no longer functioning, and unfortunately, that’s permanent. I’m terribly sorry for your loss. I know she was starting to show signs of improvement; I’m sure you were beginning to hope for the best.”

Josh nodded at the man and then looked at Dr. Bomboy. “So you’re recommendation…”

“I recommend terminating life-support. However, Mr. Lyman, let me stress this. This is your decision.”

He looked at Dr. Clark. “You agree?”

He nodded. “Yes I do.”

“I need to sign something?”

“Yes,” said Dr. Bomboy, handing him a clipboard. He skimmed the document and took a large shaky breath before signing the bottom and handing it back to her. She smiled weakly at him. “I’ll be right back and we’ll disconnect the machines.”

“Can I stay?”

She nodded. “Yes, you may. Would you like me to find your wife?”

“I’m sure she’ll be here in a minute,” he replied distantly. 

Both doctors regarded him for a moment and then left the room. Donna stood in the hallway and tried to smile as they passed. Then she quietly pushed the door open and took one step inside the room. Josh turned his head from his mother and looked at her. “Would you rather be alone?” she asked.

He shook his head and reached his arm towards her. She came to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “They’ll be back in a minute to disconnect the machines.” She just nodded and kissed his cheek.

**********

In the end, it was quick and without preamble. It took less than two minutes for her to flat line and Dr. Bomboy to quietly call the time of death. Josh stood next to Elizabeth’s bed the entire time, calmly watching her slip away. He didn’t sob or shake, he didn’t even cry. Instead, he held Donna’s hand, lightly rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. He had lost his mother, and he was heart-broken. Still, as hard as it was, he stood there knowing that he hadn’t lost his family; she was standing next to him, holding his hand.


	13. 11 - Alternative Ending

  
Author's notes: This chapter does not follow chapter 12. It is an alternate ending and follows chapter 10.  


* * *

Josh’s cell phone rang at 1:15, and without even opening an eye, Donna reached down onto the floor and picked it up. Josh took the phone from her, kissing her wrist before he answered. “Hello?” he said in a groggy voice.

“Mr. Lyman, this is Ericka, from the ICU.”

“My mother?” he asked in a panicked voice as he sat up, rolling Donna to her side.

“Yes sir, she…”

“We’re on our way,” he said and hung up the phone. In just a few seconds, he had his jeans pulled on over the boxers he was wearing. He looked over at Donna, who was already on the other side of the room slipping into her sandals and picking up her purse. “Donna,” he said, but couldn’t finish his thought.

She walked over to him and quietly took him by the arm. “Come on, Josh. We need to go.”

They practically ran down the hall and the flight of stairs, but still the trip to the ICU seemed to take forever. Donna held Josh’s hand the whole time, gripping it for dear life. 

When they pushed the door open to his mother's room, the first thing they saw was Dr. Bomboy and a nurse standing around Elizabeth’s bed. “What’s going on?” Josh asked, panicked. 

“Well, look who got here in record time, Elizabeth. I told you it wouldn’t take him long,” said Dr. Bomboy. Josh looked at her, confused, and then looked at his mother, and for the first time, noticed that her eyes were open and that she was looking directly at him.

For a brief second, all the air seemed to rush out of his lungs and he stood immobilized as tears sprung to his eyes. The thought, ‘is this real’ played over in his mind, and he wondered if he was dreaming. Then, he dropped Donna’s hand and all but leapt from his spot near the door to the right side of her bed, afraid to touch her and hurt her, afraid not to touch her to know she was real. “Mom,” he whispered, taking her hand in his and leaning down and kissing her on the cheek.

She stared at him, but didn’t say anything. She looked somewhat scared, and she was obviously confused. “What’s going on?” he asked Dr. Bomboy, keeping his eyes locked on his mother.

“She’s a little disoriented,” said the doctor. “It’s completely normal.”

Feeling a bit relieved, he smiled at his mother. “You had us pretty worried,” he said quietly, holding her hand. She weakly smiled and held on tightly to him. Donna tentatively walked to the end of the bed, but tried to stay out of the nurse’s way.

“I was just explaining to your mother that she had a stroke and has been unconscious for several days. Elizabeth, can you try to squeeze my hand?” Josh looked up at Dr. Bomboy who looked back at him and shook her head. “That’s fine for now Elizabeth. We’re going to give your body a chance to rest today. Ok?” Elizabeth looked at her and then at Josh, who smiled and winked at her, trying to reassure her. 

“Mr. Lyman,” Dr. Bomboy said. “Can I talk to you outside?”

“Uhh…” he looked at his mom. 

“I’ll go, Josh,” said Donna. “You stay with your mom.”

He looked at her and sighed, relieved. “Thanks,” he said and focused back on his mom. Donna followed the doctor into the hallway.

“She’s not talking,” Donna said as soon as the door closed.

“She’s confused. It may take a few hours or a few days for her to grasp what’s going on. She might also have some repercussions from the strokes and/or the coma.”

“So that might be permanent?” asked Donna, worried. 

“Yes, but it’s too soon to tell, and it’s too soon to be worried about it. She’s awake and that’s a good thing. Now we can focus on what exactly has been affected and deal with it.”

“Where do we start?” asked Donna.

“I don’t want to do anything today. I want to give her a little time to focus and regroup. But she’s stable. Her heart rate is better than it was this morning. Her pulse and blood pressure are fine. Her incisions from the surgery are good. I want to start rehabilitation as soon as possible. 90% of her recovery will take place in the next six months. Wherever she is at that point is basically where she’s going to stay. There’s really no time to waste.”

“She didn’t squeeze your hand in there, did she?”

“No. She definitely has paralysis on her left side. It could be minor and it could be temporary, we’ll know more when she starts working with the therapists.”

“Will the hospital make those arrangements, or should I?”

“No," Dr. Bomboy smiled. "We will. We’ll have a physical therapist here in the morning and an occupational therapist here tomorrow afternoon. They’ll have your mother-in-law for a few hours. Hopefully, she’ll be a little more aware of her surroundings and will be able to go without your husband. If she’s still disoriented, he may need to go with her. She seems more secure with him nearby.”

Donna smiled and nodded at the doctor. “So, what should we be doing today?”

The doctor looked at her clipboard, reading something, but continued talking nonchalantly to Donna. “Talk to her about things she knows, try to act as normal as possible. Don’t dwell on what might be wrong. Stay positive.”

“I can do that, thanks,” said Donna, pushing the door to the room open with her back.

“And her friends are in the waiting room,” Dr. Bomboy added before walking down the hall.

“Right, thanks,” Donna said, letting the door close and heading down to the waiting room.

**********

The nurse handed Josh a plastic cup with water. “She might have a hard time swallowing, but let her try. I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on her. If you need anything, just ring the call button.”

“Thanks,” he said to her as she left. Then he looked back at his mother. “They’re all gone, that help?” 

Elizabeth nodded slightly at him. She didn’t really know what to think. She woke up and Marjorie and Gary were sitting there, but then two people came in and started poking and prodding at her. It had taken a minute to realize she was in the hospital, but she couldn’t remember how she got there or why. “Dr. Bomboy told you that you had a stroke?”

She nodded again. “Well, that was on Tuesday. It’s Saturday now, I think. The days are running together,” he said, quietly, still holding her hand. “You had surgery on Thursday, to clean up blocked arteries in your neck. It was a relatively minor surgery, and it went fine. Nothing to worry about. Do you want some water?” 

She nodded and he held the cup for her. She took a sip from the straw, and just as the nurse had predicted, she had trouble swallowing it. She kept it in her mouth for several seconds, and finally swallowed some of it, coughing. The rest dribbled out of her mouth and down the front of her gown. Josh grabbed at towel off the counter next to the bed and wiped her chin, trying to act as if it was no big deal. “So, the important things…” he said casually.

“First, the Met’s beat the Cubs on Thursday but lost yesterday, nine to two. It was ugly.” She smiled at him. “Betty and Russell were here and Betty yelled at me for not sleeping enough, and said that Donna was smarter than me.” She nodded and smiled again. “They also taught me cribbage, so when you’re feeling better, we can play. What else… oh yes… the entire hospital is under the misconception that Donna and I are married. Apparently, you had that on your emergency contact list. Care to explain?”

“Donna,” she whispered, her throat dry and hurting a bit.

“She’s here. Although, none of the doctors are flirting with her since they think she’s married and all,” he said smiling.

“Good,” Elizabeth whispered and pointed to the cup. He held it for her and she tried to drink some more. Again, it took several seconds to swallow and then only part of it went down. Still, it felt good to her throat.

Josh wiped her chin again and smiled. This was a bit more like his mother. He was concerned about this swallowing thing, as well as the fact that she hadn’t moved her left arm or leg at all, but he kept reminding himself that she was awake and he was going to focus on the good things, including the fact that she was starting to talk a bit.

He heard the door start to open and looked over. Donna poked her head in. “Is it ok,” she whispered, pointing inside the room.

“Hey Mom, look who’s here,” he said cheerfully. Elizabeth looked up at Donna and smiled.

“Now, that’s a sight for sore eyes,” said Donna cheerfully, walking into the room and standing at the foot of Elizabeth’s bed.

“I was just filling her in on the important things she missed during her extended nap,” said Josh.

“The Met’s?” she asked Elizabeth, who nodded.

“Of course,” Donna said, chuckling. “I just talked to Marjorie and Gary. They’re heading home for the day so you can rest, but they’re going to come back tomorrow afternoon.”

“Ok,” Elizabeth whispered. Donna smiled. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of Elizabeth talking, but she was certainly relieved that she seemed a little more at ease and was able to form words. They were a little drawn out and mispronounced, but she figured that probably had something to do with the fact that the left side of her face was still sagging quite a bit from the right.

The nurse came back a few minutes later to change Elizabether catheter bag and to help help her clean up change into a clean hospital gown. “Are you ok if I leave for a few minutes?” Josh asked his mother. Elizabeth hesitated, but then nodded and he squeezed her hand before he and Donna left the room.

**********

As soon as they stepped into the hallway, Josh grabbed Donna around the waist and pulled her into a hug. “She’s awake,” he whispered. Donna took a deep breath and smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing tight. He buried his head in her neck and they stayed like that, silent, for a minute. 

When he pulled away, it was only slightly, so he could see her face. “You look tired,” he said to her.

She shrugged a little. “We only got two hours of sleep.”

“We were busy… doing other things,” he whispered.

“Yes,” she whispered back, smiling.

“Things we liked doing,” he said, a little timidly. 

“Good things,” she agreed. “Things that we should discuss later, when other things settle down a bit.” 

He shook his head at her. “Things that we’re going to discuss much sooner rather than later,” he said, kissing her on the nose.

“Josh, you have plenty of things on your plate. You don’t need to worry about this right now,” she said, pulling back a bit farther and taking her arms down from around his neck.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” he said, pulling her back to him. “This,” he said, kissing her lightly on the lips. “Is not something I’m willing to wait on any longer.” He leaned in and kissed her again, longer this time, letting his lips linger against hers. She brought her arms back around his neck and her hands up into his hair and kissed him back.

When they parted a minute later, she smiled. “Fine,” she said, as if she was giving in to a child. “We don’t wait, but we focus on your mom. That comes first.”

He let go of her and nodded. “Agreed. What did the doctor say?”

“She wants to start therapy tomorrow.”

“Already?” 

“Dr. Bomboy said she’s stable and there’s not a lot of time to waste. She said that most of your mom’s progress will be made in the next six months. The therapists can assess what the problems are and get to work.”

“But it’s so soon. Don’t you think it’s a little early?”

She shrugged. “I think they know best. They do this all the time. If it’s too much too soon, they’ll know it. "

“She’s not moving the left side of her body at all, and she can’t swallow well.” he said quietly.

“I know. Let’s let the therapists work with her tomorrow. She keeps blinking too. I’m not sure she’s seeing well.”

He nodded. “She’s not as confused,” he said hopefully.

She smiled at him. “I think she’s doing pretty well,” she said cheerfully.

**********

"Elizabeth, I'm Jodie," said the nurse, sitting down next to her bed. Elizabeth looked at her but had no reaction. "I know things are happening fast, but I thought maybe you could use cleaned up a little. You've been unconscious for five days. It's up to you. If you're not comfortable with it, we can wait."

Elizabeth looked at the woman for a minute and then cautiously nodded. The nurse smiled at her. "Alright then, how about we clean you up and put you in a clean gown. Your son will be back in a few minutes."

Elizabeth continued looking at Jodie, who continued talking the entire time, trying to calm any fears Elizabeth had. "So, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman work at the White House, huh?" Elizabeth nodded. "They seem very happy together."

"Love."

"Yes," said Jodie, nodding, and happy that Elizabeth seemed to be relaxing a bit with her. "They are definately in love. There's no doubt about that."

"They'll come," Elizabeth whispered.

Jodie looked at her but kept working. "They're already here, remember?" Short-term memory loss was common in stroke victims, so she wasn't surprised that Elizabeth had forgotten she'd seen them.

Elizabeth looked at her for a few seconds, and then remembered. "Yes, the Met's lost."

**********

“McGarry,” he said, answering the phone while reading a report by Nancy on weapon sales in Korea.

“Leo, it’s Josh.”

At the sound of Josh’s voice, he put down the report and concentrated on the call. “You sound like you’re in a good mood.”

“She’s awake, Leo.”

He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. “Oh, thank God.”

“She just woke up a little bit ago.”

“How’s she doing?” he cautiously asked.

“It’s hard to say. She’s talking a little. Her words aren’t perfect, but they’re not bad. She’s not moving the left side of her body at all, and she’s having trouble swallowing. She was confused for a while, but she seems a little better now, although she’s still a little freaked out by the staff. They’re starting therapy tomorrow, we’ll know more then.”

“Good, keep us posted.”

“Leo, I know we’ve been gone a while…”

“But you need to be gone a while longer.”

He sighed, hoping Leo would understand. “Yeah.”

“Starting Monday, I want you available by phone for senior staff. I want you working with Toby on the Education Building Repairs bill, as well as keeping up with the Federal Highway Road Construction bill. Also, keep as many of your appointments as possible by phone.”

“I can do that, and I should have that e-mail from Matt on Monday with the new language for the roads bill. I’ll keep on top it.”

“Fine. What about Donna? How much longer do you need her?”

Josh closed his eyes. He saw this coming, and the last thing he wanted right now was to be several states away from Donna. “That depends on the long term prognosis. We might have to consider selling the condo and the car; I could use her for a few more days, at least.”

“Then stay for now, but you can’t stay forever. You should consider transferring her up here.”

“We already discussed it. We’re going to talk to the doctor and therapists to see when we can move her up by us. Donna’s already researching facilities in and around DC.”

“Up by us?” Leo asked with a smile on his face that Josh couldn’t see.

“Uhh…”

“Yes?”

Josh stood in the hallway outside Elizabeth’s room, kicking his shoes and looking at the floor. “Leo, we’re going to need to talk about something when I get back.”

Leo laughed. “I’m not the one you have to convince. Clear it with CJ.”

“Really?” Josh asked excitedly.

“I have bigger things to worry about than your love life. Get with CJ and handle yourselves like professionals in the office.”

“Yes sir,” he said with a smile on his face.


	14. 12A - Alternate ending

When Josh got off the phone with Leo, he went back to Elizabeth’s room, where he found Donna sitting with her reading her the paper. He walked over to Donna and kissed her on the cheek before sitting down next to her and looking at his mother, who was staring at   
him. “Yes mother, it’s exactly what it looks like,” he said with a smile.

“’Bout time,” she whispered back with a hint of a smile. Then she turned to Donna. “Good luck.” Donna nodded and smiled in understanding.

“Hey, no ganging up,” Josh whined. 

Donna patted him on the knee but spoke to Elizabeth. “He’s like a big child.” Elizabeth nodded.

“I’m right here,” he said, staring at the two women.

They spent the evening with Elizabeth, and although she slept part of the time, Josh was relieved to see that she was calm and responsive to the nurses and doctors, as well as he and Donna. She still hadn’t moved the left side of her body, and he thought it odd that she hadn’t even mentioned not being able to. Swallowing remained a problem, and she seemed to have trouble remembering little things like subjects they’d been talking about and the names of the nurses when they came and went. She was also barely talking, but for now, he decided not to worry about those things. He would wait until the therapists worked with her and see if they had any answers for him.

Donna had tried to hide the fact, but she was exhausted. She and Josh had only slept two hours that afternoon before Elizabeth woke up, and the day before that, they’d only slept for about five hours. Her body was beginning to show signs of sleep deprivation. She was having trouble paying attention to the conversation, she was a little dizzy when she stood, and she was desperately trying to hide the fact that she couldn’t stop yawning. Josh, on the other hand, acted as though he’d been sleeping fine over the last several days. He rattled on to his mother, read to her, complained about the Met’s batting order, even talked up DC, which Donna knew was a prequel to trying to get Elizabeth to agree to move there. 

Finally, around 8:30, a nurse came in with medication to help Elizabeth sleep through the night, telling her she needed to be well rested for therapy the next day. Fifteen minutes later, she was sound asleep and Donna was contemplating how to get Josh to go upstairs to sleep when he turned to her and announced that they were going to the condo for the night.

“What?”

“The nurse said she’s going to sleep for 8 to 10 hours. For once, we can get a full night’s rest, and the spare bed at my mom’s is three times the size of the bed upstairs. Wouldn’t you like to be able to move around a bit?” he asked, wagging his eyebrows.

She stared at him, finding it difficult to believe he was willing to leave the hospital and far too tired to joke about the size of the bed. “You aren’t worried about leaving for the night?”

He looked back at his mom. “Nah, we’ll set the alarm and get back here early, before she wakes up.” 

She nodded. “Ok, let’s go get our clothes; we can do a load of laundry at your mom’s.” She stood up and took a second to steady herself before she started walking. Josh noticed immediately and stood up, put his arm around her waist, and held her close to him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, worried.

She smiled a little at him and put her hand on his cheek. “Nothing, I’m just tired.”

He looked at her for several seconds and kissed her forehead. “Ok, forget the condo. We’re going upstairs,” he said, worry still in his voice.

“Josh, I can make it to your mom’s. It’s only fifteen minutes from here.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care. That’s an extra fifteen minutes of sleep, and you need it. We’re sleeping here tonight. While she’s in therapy tomorrow, we’ll pack up our stuff and make the move to mom’s tomorrow night.” He held her by the waist and led her upstairs.

When they got to the room, Donna went into the restroom to take out her contacts and brush her teeth. Josh came into the room a minute later with her pajamas in his hand. “Are you hungry?” he asked. It hadn’t occurred to him until that moment that they hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

“Yeah, but I’m more tired than hungry,” she said, yawning.

“You want me to go to the cafeteria and get you something?” he asked her quietly, still worried about her.

She shook her head. “You can get something for yourself if you want, but I’m too tired to eat.” 

He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” she said, kissing him lightly on the lips. She took her pajamas from him and walked into the bedroom. “Bathroom’s all yours,” she said sleepily.

**********

When Josh came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Donna was asleep on the small bed. He watched her for a minute, and then quietly pulled the chair from the corner of the room to the side of the bed, blocking the path to bathroom. He sat in the chair and propped his feet up on the end of the bed, then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

An hour later, Donna woke-up and noticed that Josh wasn’t next to her on the bed. She sat up quickly, worried that something had happened to Elizabeth, grabbed her jeans off the floor, and began hastily putting them on while searching for her glasses. The room was pitch black, so she didn’t notice Josh in the chair until she ran into him on her way into the bathroom. 

He jumped and sat up, confused, half in and half out of consciousness, pulling his feet off the bed. “What? My mom?”

“Josh, what the hell are you doing?” Donna asked as she reached around him and flicked on the bathroom light so she could see little.

Still confused, Josh looked at her and tried to block the light from his eyes. “Is my mom ok?”

She wiped her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. “I guess so. I woke up and you weren’t in bed. I thought something had happened and you left. I was on my way down there. What are you doing in the chair?”

He leaned over, and rested his elbows on his knees and. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned. “You were tired. I wanted to give you the bed so you could actually get some sleep.” 

She put her hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her. Taking his hand in hers, she tugged him a little bit. “Come get into bed.” 

He pulled his hand back and stayed in the chair. “No. You need to sleep.”

“So do you,” she said sternly.

“I’m fine; go back to bed.”

She stared at him hard for a minute. “What’s going on?”

He put his head in his hands and groaned. “Nothing.”

“Look at me and tell me what’s going on,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and staring at him.

He rubbed his eyes with his palms and kept his head down. “Nothing’s going on. You need to sleep.”

“I do hog the bed,” she said, surprise filling her voice.

He snapped his head up and looked at her like she had lost her mind. “What?”

“You don’t want to sleep with me because I hog the bed.”

“That’s ridiculous.” She was obviously exhausted past the point of making sense.

“No it’s not. You told me the other day that I hog the bed.”

He stood up and faced her. “Donna, you don’t hog the bed,” he said quietly.

“Then why don’t you want to sleep with me?” she half-yelled.

“Oh, I want to sleep with you,” he shot back at her.

“What?”

He shook his head. “Never mind.”

She hung her head and quietly said, “I’m so confused.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and turned her towards the bed. “Donna, you’re a walking zombie. You need sleep; you don’t need to share a twin bed. I’ll be fine on the chair.”

She started walking towards the bed, and then stopped and turned back to him. “You’re freaking out,” she accused.

“What?” he asked, confused himself now.

“You’re freaking out,” she said again, poking him in the chest.

“About what?”

“Us. You don’t want to sleep with me because you’re freaking out about us!” 

“Ok, let’s get this straight. I want to sleep with you. I’ve wanted to sleep with you since about ten minutes after we met,” he said, trying to stay calm.

“But you’re freaking out!” 

He took a deep breath. “I’m not freaking out; in fact, you’re the one freaking out.”

“If you’re not freaking out, why won’t you come to bed?”

He gritted his teeth and spoke a little louder himself. “Because you need to sleep.”

“I sleep fine with you in the bed, in fact I sleep great with you in the bed. I don’t give a damn how small the damn bed is, I sleep better with you in it!” she screamed at him.

He started yelling too. “Well, I sleep amazing when I’m holding you, and quite frankly, I don’t want to do anything else for the rest of my life, so there!”

“Good to know; now get in the fucking bed!”

“Fine, I will!”

“Fine!” Donna stomped around to her side of the small bed while Josh pulled the covers back on his side and got in. When they were both in bed, Josh lay on his back and pulled Donna to him, and she draped herself across him and molded her body to his. A minute went by with neither of them speaking, and then she propped her chin up on his chest and looked at him.

Like magnets, their lips fused together into a long kiss. Donna let her tongue snake out and trace his lips, and he opened his mouth, pulling her tongue inside. A minute later, he rolled them so he was lying on top of her, his hands finding their way to her hair, her hands gripping his shoulders. Before long, his mouth left hers and made its way to her neck, sucking and lightly biting, and she began sighing and making little squeaks. One of his hands found its way under her shirt, massaging her stomach and sides, his thumb brushing the underside of her breast lightly as her sighs turned into moans. She wrapped her legs around his waist and it was his turn to moan as his erection, through his shorts, pressed against her leg. His mouth found hers again, and their tongues explored each other lazily as her hands moved from his shoulders to his hair.

When the kiss ended several minutes later, he pulled back and looked at her. Her lips were swollen, her face was flushed, and she was panting for breath. She smiled up at him and uncurled her legs from around his waist. He kissed her one more time, this time gently and with a closed mouth, before rolling them back over so she was once again draped across him. 

“Isn’t this better than the chair?” she mumbled.

He kissed her head and ran his fingers through her hair. “Yeah, definitely better,” he whispered. A few minutes later, they drifted off to sleep.

**********

When she woke up in the morning, Donna felt a hundred percent better. Without opening her eyes, she reached for Josh, but he wasn’t next to her. She started to push herself up, when she heard Josh say, “I’m right here.” She opened her eyes and looked over at him. He was sitting in the chair again, holding a tray, staring at her with a smile on his face.

“You didn’t sleep there, did you?” she asked, pouting.

He smiled wider and got up, walking over to her on the bed. “No, I didn’t,” he said, leaning down and kissing her long and full on the mouth. “I woke up a half hour ago, checked on my mom and got us some breakfast.”

“How is she?” she asked, rolling on to her back and staring up at him.

“Stable and still sound asleep. Nurse said she slept all night long.”

Donna smiled at the good news. “What did you get us?” she asked, sitting up. She felt like she hadn’t eaten in a month.

“Scrambled eggs and fruit for you, Fruity Pebbles and bacon for me,” he said, popping a piece of bacon in his mouth. “And coffee.”

“I want bacon too,” she said, picking up a piece and taking a bite.

“I expected as much and got a double order,” he said proudly.

She took a bite of her eggs and then looked at him suspiciously. “You yelled at me last night.”

“You yelled first,” he replied as he poured milk into his cereal.

“I was delirious from exhaustion,” she said, as if that answered everything.

“I was trying to be chivalrous,” he said in the same tone.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not freaking out?”

He shook his head and smiled. “I’m not freaking out.”


	15. 13A - Alternate Ending

By 8:30, Josh was beginning to pace Elizabeth’s room. He and Donna had been there since seven, and Elizabeth had been asleep for almost twelve full hours. Three times, he had gone out to the nurse’s station, and each time, they told him it was fine, that she needed rest. He didn’t get it; she’d slept for five days straight, now she needed rest? 

She finally woke-up around nine, confused and scared, which only increased Josh’s worry. He calmly and patiently explained to her that she’d had a stroke and that she was in the hospital. Once she was reminded of it, she remembered and relaxed. A nurse came in and helped her clean up a little, and Dr. Bomboy arrived at 10:00 with the physical therapist.

“Elizabeth, this is Barbara, she’s the physical therapist you’ll be working with while you’re in the hospital.” 

“Hello,” she said with a scratchy voice, nodding slightly at the woman.

“And this is her son and daughter-in-law, Josh and Donna Lyman,” said Dr. Bomboy.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lyman, hello,” said the woman, shaking their hands. Josh glanced at his mother, who managed to smirk at him a little at the mention of Donna as his wife. He couldn’t help but smiling back at her.

“Please, Josh and Donna,” Donna said to the woman.

“She just woke-up yesterday from five days in a coma. Are you both sure this isn’t too soon?” asked Josh.

“We won’t know for sure until we try, but the sooner we start therapy, the better,” said Dr. Bomboy.

Barbara turned to Elizabeth. “We’re going to take it easy today. You and I are going to get to know each other a bit, and then we’re going to spend some time checking your responses, your movement on both sides of the body, your balance and your coordination levels. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth whispered.

Barbara smiled at her. “Good. Do you think it would be ok if it was just the two of us, or would you feel better if your son and daughter came with us?”

Elizabeth looked at Josh and then back at Barbara. “I’m fine.”

“Good. Mr. and Mrs… sorry. Josh, Donna… we’re going to be an hour to an hour and a half. When we’re done, the occupational therapist will work with her and then the four of us, as well as Dr. Bomboy, will need to talk. By then, we’ll have a much better idea of what Elizabeth needs and we can start to form a plan of attack.” She looked back at Elizabeth. “Sound good to you?” Elizabeth nodded at her.

“We have some questions,” Josh said.

“Of course you do. Put together a list. We’ll be in a better position to answer them when we’re done for today,” she said smiling.

“We have a list,” said Donna, handing the woman a neatly folded piece of paper. 

Josh looked at Donna in shock. “We wrote the list down?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Of course we did.” He smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek.

Barbara looked over the list, and then folded it and put it into her pocket. “Great. These are good questions. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to get her ready to go, and it’s… it might not be easy to watch us put her in a wheel chair for the first time.”

Josh’s eyes got huge and he immediately reached for his mother’s hand. “I don’t want her hurt,” he said sternly.

“We’re not going to hurt her, but it’s not going to be comfortable. It takes some time to get used to people helping you do the day-to-day things. We’ll develop a system that works well for us, but we don’t have that system yet,” Barbara said. “But you should all know, over the next several months, there is going to be pain. Therapy isn’t easy, but it is necessary.”

Josh started to say something, but Donna’s hand on his arm stopped him. “We’re familiar with therapy,” she said to Barbara. “We’ll be back here in an hour or so.” She took Josh by the arm and led him out of the room.

**********

An hour and fifteen minutes later, they were showered, packed and waiting in Elizabeth’s room when Barbara wheeled her back in. Elizabeth looked the way she had when they left, not too much worse for wear. Josh leaned over and kissed her cheek, squeezing her hand. “How’d it go?” he asked his mother, not looking at Barbara. She might have said pain was part of therapy, but he was not ready to see his mom hurting, and for some unexplained reason, he felt like it was he and his mom versus the therapist.

“Not bad,” she said quietly. He held her water cup for her, and she tried to drink a little. Most of it went down her hospital gown again.

“Will you work on this?” he asked, finally looking at Barbara.

“The dysphagia? No, the occupational therapist will work on things like that.” She looked over at Elizabeth. “You’ll be working with Angela. You’ll like her; she’s very young and very sweet.” Elizabeth nodded at her.

“Who’s very young and very sweet?” a woman asked in a thick southern accent, walking into the room.

“You are,” said Barbara standing up. “Angela, this is Josh and Donna Lyman, and this is Elizabeth.” 

“Hi Elizabeth,” Angela said with a huge smile on her face, holding out her right hand. Elizabeth smiled and shook her hand. 

“You’re…” Josh looked at her, eyes bugged out and mouth hanging open. She looked like she was about twenty years old, and suddenly, he didn’t care for either of her therapists. “You’re a therapist?” he screeched.

“Josh,” whispered Donna sharply, nudging him in the side. “Hi Angela. I’m Donna, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too,” said the young woman, smiling. “And yes, Josh. I am a therapist. I’m not quite as young as I look.”

He looked at her and tucked his head a little. “Yeah, sorry,” he said shaking her hand.

“So, how did PT go,” she asked. “Are you tuckered out?” Elizabeth shook her head. “Good, then if it’s ok with you, we’ll get started.” Elizabeth nodded, already feeling completely at ease with the young woman.

“Alright then,” she replied. Then she looked at the other three people. “Get out,” she said, good-naturedly. Elizabeth laughed a little.

Josh stared at the woman in disbelief for a minute. “You’re ok Mom?” Elizabeth nodded at him and he kissed her cheek one more time before leaving with Barbara and Donna.

**********

Two hours later, Josh and Donna sat on a couch in a conference room a few doors down from Elizabeth’s. The room was small; the couch, a coffee table with a telephone, and three chairs were the only things in it. As they waited for Angela, Barbara and Dr. Bomboy to come in, Donna wondered how many other people had waited for similar news in this room.

“This is an important meeting,” Josh said to no one in particular.

“You ok?” Donna asked, as she had done several times over the last two hours.

He looked over at her. “I just don’t know about these people, Donna.”

“What people?” she asked confused.

“These therapists. One’s young enough to go to the prom and the other is looking forward to hurting my mom.”

“Looking forward?” she asked him like he was an exaggerating child.

“That’s what she said,” he said, standing up and pacing the room.

“That is not what she said.”

“Yes it is. She said ‘it’s going to hurt and you better suck it up and who gives a damn if she’s 72 years old, we’re going to torture her and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.’” His voice rose in volume as he spoke.

“That is most certainly not what she said.”

He stopped pacing and looked at her. “It’s what she meant.”

She stood up and calmly spoke to him. “It’s not what she meant, and you know it.”

“No I don’t Donna. We don’t know these people. We don’t even know if they’re really therapists. They could be contract killers.”

“Contract killers? Josh, these are the therapists Dr. Bomboy wants her working with.”

“Yeah, Dr. Bomboy. Dr. Bomboy who did nothing for five days except poke her head in the door twice a day and said ‘yep, she’s still in a coma.’”

Donna tried not to laugh, but it was pretty funny watching him unravel like this. “Ok, you’re officially losing it.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side here!”

“Listen to yourself. Contract killers? You sound like a lunatic.”

“They want to hurt my mother,” he yelled.

She put her hand on his shoulder. “No they don’t. They want to help your mother and you feel helpless, so you’re attacking the only people you can.”

“I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“And we didn’t want to see you hurt, but therapy hurts and that’s the way it is,” she calmly replied.

He stopped and looked at her, and then quietly said, “I couldn’t even watch them put her into a wheelchair.”

“It was probably embarrassing for her Josh. She’s not used to other people doing things for her, she’s wearing a paper-thin gown that doesn’t close in the back, and she can’t move half of her body. Barbara probably thought she’d be more at ease if she didn’t have you staring at her when she’s like that. It had to be awkward getting her into that chair.”

He tilted his head to one side. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Well, you did when you were in the hospital. You freaked out thinking your mom was going to see you.”

“I wasn’t allowed to wear boxers for a week,” he said. “I didn’t want her to see… Oh.”

“Yes.”

He was quiet for a minute. “What about the young one?”

“She’s funny.”

“She’s young. She probably just got out of college.”

“Then she’s up on the latest techniques.”

“But… but…”

“Josh, don’t be that guy,” she said, shaking he head.

“What guy?”

“That guy who complains about everything and yells at the doctors and thinks he knows best, and basically makes everyone’s life a living hell.”

“I’m not being… I’m being that guy?”

She smiled and pulled him close, kissing him lightly on the nose. “You’re bordering on it.”

He frowned. “I’m acting like an ass?”

“No, you’re acting like a son who’s worried about his mom.”

He studied her for a minute before asking, “You think they’re ok?”

“The therapists?” He nodded. “I’ve only met them once, but they seem competent and Elizabeth seems to like them. Let’s just give them a chance, ok?” she asked.

He reluctantly agreed. “Ok, we’ll give them a chance, and I won’t be the guy.”

She smiled at him. “That’s all I ask.”

**********

“Thanks for waiting,” said Dr. Bomboy as she, Barbara and Angela came in a few minutes later. 

“That’s not a problem,” Donna said with a smile. 

“Have a seat, please.” Donna and Josh sat on the couch and the other tree took seats in the only chairs in the small room. 

“Where do we start?” asked Josh. 

“We need to discuss your mother’s mental state, her physical condition, her therapy options, and her long term prognosis. Eventually, we’ll include her in these discussions, but she’s not really aware enough to make any decisions regarding her care at this point. You hold her medical power of attorney, so ultimately, you’ll need to make any decisions.” He nodded at her. 

“Let’s start with her physical conditions,” said Barbara. “She has absolutely no movement in her left side. During therapy today, she was unable to move her hand, arm or leg, even slightly.” Hearing this, Josh put his head down for several seconds, and then looked at Barbara again. Donna took his hand in hers and squeezed lightly to let him know she was there. 

When Josh looked at her again, Barbara continued. “She has also lost muscle control on the left side of her face, which I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Yes,” Josh said quietly.

Angela looked him and smiled slightly. “Your mother also has dysphagia, which means that she’s having trouble swallowing. Therefore, she can’t eat. Her right arm is weak, and since her left arm in currently incapacitated, she really can’t take care of herself at all.” 

Josh rubbed his hand over his face and through his hair, sighing deeply. “Ok, what else?” he asked calmly.

Dr. Bomboy took over at this point. “There’s still swelling in the brain. We’ll do an MRI tomorrow to check the progress on that. She’s also still recovering from the carotid endarterectomy she had on Thursday, although she’s doing very well in that regard. She’s starting to talk some and she seems to be comprehending fine. Mentally, that’s a great sign. ” 

“As for as her mental health,” said Barbara, looking at Josh and Donna. “She has significant short term memory loss.”

“Significant?” asked Donna. “It hasn’t seemed that bad to us.”

“You’ll notice it more as she begins to talk more,” replied Dr. Bomboy. “She’s mostly listening at this point.”

“Several times during therapy today, I’d ask her to do something and she would. Then I’d ask her to do it again and she wouldn’t remember what she was doing,” Barbara continued. 

“I found the same thing,” said Angela.

“Is that permanent?” asked Josh.

“Probably,” said Dr. Bomboy. “And as she moves and speaks more, you’ll notice other behavioral changes in her as well.”

“Now,” said Barbara. “Let’s discuss therapy options.” Josh took a deep breath and nodded. “There’s a wonderful new technique called Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy. It greatly helps with movement. However, your mother has to have some movement in her arm prior to beginning CI therapy, so for now, we go with traditional therapy to restore some movement on her left side.”

“She hasn’t even mentioned not being able to move. Isn’t that odd?” asked Donna.

“To you, it seems odd. If you woke-up this morning unable to move part of your body, you’d be freaking out, right?” asked Angela.

“Yes.”

“Well, this is different. It’s not like if she had a broken spine. In that case, the brain would be telling the limbs to move and she wouldn’t be able to move them. In this case, Elizabeth’s brain no longer thinks that part of the body should be moving, and therefore, she doesn’t see anything odd about it.”

“You can no longer assume that her brain works the way your does,” said Dr. Bomboy. “It simply doesn’t. It works, but not the same way.” Donna nodded at her.

Josh turned to Barbara. “Once there's movement in her arm and leg, we can do the new therapy?”

“If there is movement, Mr. Lyman. Her stroke was severe, was it not?” Dr. Bomboy looked at her and nodded. “I can’t guarantee that she’ll ever have movement on her left side again. We’re going to give it our best shot, though. In the meantime, we’re going to work on strengthening her right side so she can do some of her daily activities. We’re also going to get her as mobile as possible in a wheel chair.”

He put his face in his hands and asked, “What about the swallowing?” 

Angela spoke to him. “The dysphagia will be the main focus of my work with your mother at first. We won’t be able to kick it altogether, but we will be able to control it. The goal, of course, is that your mother will be able to eat regular foods. I’d expect her to be swallowing better in a few days. Hopefully by mid-weak, she’ll be swallowing well enough to be able to eat soup, Jell-O, things like that. She and I will also be working on the little everyday things like brushing her teeth and answering the phone.” 

“I recommend a speech therapist too,” said Dr. Bomboy. “Her speech isn’t that bad, and I think a month or so with a therapist will make a world of difference.” 

“That’s fine,” said Josh. “Whatever’s best for her.”

She nodded. “Good. I’ll make the arrangements today.”

“What about her long-term prognosis?” asked Donna. “You said we’d discuss that.”

“Yes. I expect the brain swelling to go down completely, and I expect her to fully recover from the carotid endarterectomy. I also expect her to be able to recover her speech almost fully,” said Dr. Bomboy. Josh squeezed Donna’s hand and smiled.

“That’s the good news, Josh,” said Barbara. “At this point, I’m not convinced she’ll ever walk again.” He took a deep breath and fought a tear that threatened to fall. “I do think we’ll be able to get some movement in her arm, and if so, the CI therapy will help immensely to improve that movement. I know it sounds bad, but if she can move both of her arms and hands, it will go a long way towards her independence, even if she doesn’t walk again. And I don’t want you to think I’m giving up on that; I’m just trying to be realistic.”

Donna looked at Barbara. “And what about independence?”

“Will she be able to live alone, you mean.” Donna nodded. “The three of us have discussed it, and no, at least not in the foreseeable future. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but that’s our assessment.”

“The two of you have only met with her once,” said Josh, motioning towards Barbara and Angela. “How can you be sure?” 

“We can’t be. But going off of experience, that’s our guess at this point.”

Dr. Bomboy cut in. “That conclusion is not only based on her paralysis, Mr. Lyman. It’s based heavily on her memory. She could go into the kitchen and turn on the stove, then answer the phone and completely forget that the stove is on. She could forget that she hasn’t eaten, that she’s already taken her medication, that she’s lit a candle, that she shouldn’t light a candle, that she has to take small bites or she’ll choke.”

The room was quiet for several seconds while Josh and Donna absorbed everything they’d been told. “So, at best, we’re looking at a nursing home,” he said quietly.

“At best, I think you’re looking at assisted living,” said Angela. “There are great places, Josh. Small apartments attached to nursing homes with a bedroom, a small living room, a kitchenette. These places have on campus dining rooms, hairdressers, convenience stores, activities… They have nurses who check-in with you throughout the day but still allow you to have some independence. Then, if and when you need to, you progress to the nursing home. I think that’s your best case scenario, but I don’t think she’ll be ready for that for months.”

“And in the meantime?”

“She’ll be in the hospital for a few weeks to a month and then she’ll be moved to a full care facility that will continue her therapy,” said Dr. Bomboy.

“When can we transfer her to Washington DC?”

Dr. Bomboy smiled. “We noticed that question on your list. It’ll depend on the swelling in the brain, but I’d say as soon as a week, maybe two. We can help you arrange for the transfer when she’s well enough to be moved as well as help arrange for a hospital in Washington with a full time therapy unit.”

“Barbara and I will research care facilities and therapists there, and make some recommendations,” said Angela.

“Thank you,” said Donna.

“It’s not a problem. We all want what’s best for her, and I think being closer to the two of you is exactly that.”

“What do we do for now?” asked Josh.

“Well,” said Dr. Bomboy. “Right now she’s getting a bath. She’ll spend the rest of the day sleeping on and off, I’m sure. Tomorrow morning we’ll be doing the MRI, and then she’ll have physical therapy for…” she looked at Barbara.

“Two hours a day, everyday.”

“Two hours a day of occupational therapy as well,” said Angela.

Dr. Bomboy nodded and smiled. “And I’ll have a speech therapist come by tomorrow afternoon, I’d plan on an hour a day for that. She’s going to be busy.”


	16. 14A - Alternate Ending

Josh managed to hold back the tears until the three women left the small conference room, but then they fell, quietly. He could hear Donna crying too, and he pulled her head to his chest and held her close. He kept telling himself that she was alive; this was good news. But in the very back of his mind, the part he didn’t want to acknowledge, he couldn’t help wondering if given the choice, she would haven chosen to live under these circumstances. She might never walk again, hell, might never even move half of her body again. Her memory was… gone; she was never going to live alone again. This woman, who survived the death of her only daughter and the love of her life, and let it strengthen her, who taught high school literature for 38 years, who volunteered with at-risk programs after she retired, who one day decided to up and leave Connecticut and move to sunny Florida just had every thing taken away from her. How was he going to tell her that, how was he going to say that to her? 

Donna clung to him; it broke her heart to see his heart break. Yet here he sat, holding her. Yes, he was crying, but she wondered who wouldn’t be at this point. Still, he didn’t sob, he didn’t try to argue it away, he just sat quietly and held her, somehow being the strong one, even now. She leaned against him a little more and he wrapped his arms around her tighter. How many times had he done this, she thought to herself. How many times had he been the strong one, even when he was so weak himself? She doubted that anyone ever noticed it but her. She thought back to the hospital, the other one. He lay there in the ICU after a fourteen-hour surgery, half in and half out of consciousness, and she walked in determined to be strong for him. But then, she had looked at his face and broken down. And with strength he couldn’t have had, he reached out and held her hand. How many times while he was recovering did she see him grit his teeth in pain and then see how much it scared her? And every time, he pulled her to his chest so she could hear his heart beating, and he promised her he’d be fine. How badly had he been hurt by what she did with Cliff Calley? She’d never seen him like that before, but still, he made the deal, he took her to the park, he talked to Cliff so she wouldn’t have to. And she saw the pain in his eyes when he told her about Mrs. Landingham, yet still, he held her while she cried. Just like now, she thought. 

Several minutes later, she sat up and smiled at him, rubbing her thumbs across his cheek, wiping away his tears. He pulled her close and kissed her cheeks, her eyelids and finally her lips. “I need to go talk to my mom,” he said quietly.

“What are you going to tell her?”

“Everything. She deserves the truth.”

She nodded at him. “Do you want me to come?”

“No, I should do this alone, but thank you for offering. Why don’t you go down to the cafeteria and eat? It’s almost four, you haven’t had anything since breakfast.”

“I’m not that hungry.”

He shook his head. “You scared me last night, you could barely stand. You need to be eating and you need to be sleeping.”

She smiled a little at him. He couldn’t help his mom, but he could help her, if she let him. “How about this? I’ll go eat something light and when they give your mom that stuff to make her sleep tonight, we’ll grab real food on the way back to the condo.”

He was hardly in the mood to be social, but real, non-cafeteria food sounded good. “Chinese take-out?” 

She nodded. “Anything you want.”

“Deal,” he said, standing and pulling her up too. “Now go eat something.”

**********

He walked to his mother’s room and took a deep breath before opening the door and walking inside. A nurse, one that seemed to be his mother’s favorite, was putting a few pillows behind her back and helping her sit-up a little. He stood next to the door and watched until the woman was done, and then smiled at her as she left. Finally, he went to the right side of his mother’s bed and sat in what had become his chair. “How you feeling?” he asked her quietly.

Instead of answering, she asked, “Where’s Donna?”

“I sent her to the cafeteria to get lunch. How much you want to bet she comes back with something for me?” 

“You love her,” Elizabeth stated as fact.

“Desperately,” he replied, with a small smile.

“Tell her,” she said.

He looked down at his lap and then back up at her. She had always been untouchable in his eyes, but she wasn’t untouchable, and this was proof. “I already did, we’re… together now. I told you yesterday, remember?”

She looked at him as if trying to figure something out. “You did?” He nodded. “I’m sorry…”

“No, don’t be sorry Mom,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s not your fault.” He leaned over and put his head in hands, his elbows resting on his knees. “It’s not your fault,” he said again quietly.

“Told you,” Elizabeth said a minute later.

Josh looked up and then sat straighter in his chair. “Told me what?”

“Donna.”

He smiled, a real smile this time. “Yes Mother, you told me many times. Many, many, many times.”

She smiled back at him. “Marry her.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head, smiling even more. “We’ve only been dating for one day. Can I have a little time, please? Besides, everyone here already thinks we’re married, thanks to you.”

She shrugged innocently and Josh’s smile faded when only her right shoulder went up. He took her hand in his. “I talked to your doctor and therapists a little bit ago,” he said, looking at her hand rather than her face.

“And?”

“You’re going to be busy. Two hours a day of physical therapy, two hours of occupational therapy and an hour of speech therapy.”

“And?” 

He looked up and met her eyes. “And they’re worried about your left side, but they’re pretty confident you’ll get better at the swallowing.” She stared at him. “Mom, it’s going to be several months before we can even discuss you living alone, and then… it’s un… it’s unlikely, Mom.”

She looked at him, really looked at him for a long time, and he wondered if she even understood what he had said. She didn’t yell or deny it, didn’t accuse him of lying, she just sat and stared at him. “Mom?”

“Why?”

He took a deep breath. “They don’t know if you’ll gain enough strength in your leg to walk again, and your short-term memory is… they’re worried you could hurt…” He drifted off as tears came to her eyes. “I’m sorry Mom, I’m so sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have… I just… I thought you had a right to know the truth.” He leaned over and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

“The condo?” she asked in a whisper.

“Yeah, I think we should sell it. In a week or two, you’ll be stable enough to move, and I’d like to transfer you to DC.” She shook her head slightly from left to right, “Mom, I want you close to me so I can make sure your getting the care you need. I can’t stay here indefinitely.”

“Not your job,” she said.

“What’s not my job?”

“Me.”

“No, you’re not my job. You’re my mom.” He ran his hand through his hair and spoke a little more sternly. “You’re my mom whom I love, and I want you close to me. I want you to come over for dinner on Sundays and I want you to be on Donna’s side when I act like an idiot, and some day, in the fairly distant future, I want my kids to know you, and not as that grandmother they only see on Thanksgiving.”

She was quiet for another minute. “Not fair,” she finally whispered.

“I know it’s not fair, Mom. But…”

“No, you.”

“Me? I’m not being fair?” He had hoped she wouldn’t feel that way, that she would see this was the best and really the only option.

“You used the grandchildren card,” she said smiling.

He looked at her and smiled back. “What can I say? I’m a politician, I play dirty.” Her smile faded and he took her hand again. “Mom, it’s not set in stone. Let’s transfer you up to DC and see how therapy goes. If you can… we’ll just play it by ear, ok?” She nodded at him and a few tears fell down her face.

**********

That night, they had eaten Chinese take-out and discussed the game plan for the next day, and then, due more to emotional than physical exhaustion, they’d gone to bed. Although the bed at Elizabeth’s condo was a queen size, they had cuddled together as if they were still on the twin, legs intertwining, chests moving together as they breathed, Josh curled up behind Donna, holding her close to his body. They had been that way for nearly a half hour, neither one talking, before Josh spoke quietly. “This isn’t fair to you,” he said quietly.

She was quiet for another minute. “What isn’t fair to me?”

“This. Having to go through this at the beginning of a relationship. I should be bringing you roses and taking you out to dinner and a movie, not picking up Chinese take-out on the way to my mom’s house after spending the last five nights at the hospital.”

She rolled to her back and then shifted onto her other side, so she was facing him. He kept his arm around her the entire time and when she was still, he pulled her close to him again and she put her arm around him and held him tight. “First of all,” she whispered. “You and I aren’t beginning our relationship, we’re just beginning the next phase of it.”

He sighed and held her even closer. “Yeah, but…”

“For another thing, I can be your best friend and you’re… the woman you’re with. I can be both of those things to you if you let me.”

“I know, but you shouldn’t have to be.”

She pulled back so she could see his face. “You can’t do that. You can’t ask me to love you and then tell me how much I’m allowed to care. If you want me to love you, this is how I do it. I love all of you, all the time, period.”

He brought his hand from her waist up to her face and cupped her cheeks in both hands. “Why do you love me like that?” he whispered.

“Why do you love me like that?” she whispered back.

“I don’t know. You’ve owned my heart since the day I met you. It’s not really something I’ve ever had control of. My heart simply belongs to you.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “And mine belongs to you. That’s why.”

He pulled her face to him and kissed her, long and passionately. He could taste her tears as they hit her lip, and he pulled away from her mouth and kissed her cheeks, and her eyelids, coming back to her mouth. Gently, he opened his mouth and licked her lips, tasting her, and she opened her mouth for him. Soon, his arms found their way down her body to her waist and he rolled them so she was underneath him. His hands snaked up her shirt and around to her sides, gently massaging her and her hands curled up into his hair. His lips left hers and traveled down her jaw and neck, licking the dip in her collarbone and then kissing the chest that was exposed by her tank top. 

Then he moved down, kissing her stomach, her belly button, anything he could reach as his hands slowly pushed her tank top up. She held his head, her fingers in his hair, tracing patterns on his scalp, sighing and giggling as he licked and tickled her with his tongue. He took his time, exploring her, in no hurry, but finally, his lips grazed her breasts and her back arched up to meet his mouth as she sighed and her fingers dug into his scalp. He kissed around her breasts for several minutes before he took a nipple into his mouth, sucking lightly, and then her sighs turned into moans. Finally, she sat up a bit and took her hands from his hair, and he pushed the tank top over her head, his lips meeting hers once again. 

“Are you sure?” she asked when his lips broke from hers and went back to her breast. 

He took his mouth off her breast and looked up at her. She was beautiful. Her face was flushed and her chest was heaving, and she was looking at him with eyes that he’d never seen so blue. “Is it… ok?” he asked.

She cupped his face with her palms and brought him up to her, kissing him very lightly on the lips. “Is this…” she trailed off.

He knew exactly what she was going to ask and wanted there to be no question of him wanting her. “This is because I love you and only because I love you, and if you want to wait, we will.”

She smiled at him and leaned up, catching his lips again. This time, her kiss was anything but light, and he pushed himself into her mouth, pushing her back into the bed. “Do we need anything?” 

“No,” she said, kissing him again, deeply, and he didn’t think anything else of it because he knew he could trust her. He barely registered the feeling of her hands on his back, until he felt her tugging on his t-shirt. He pulled off her lips and helped her pull the shirt over his head and then he went immediately back to her lips as one of his hands found its way to her breast. 

Still kissing, she rolled them onto their sides, and her fingernails began skimming over his chest, his nipples, his stomach. He groaned when her fingers started toying with the waistband of his boxers and leaned down to capture her breast in his mouth once again. 

As she continued dipping her fingers into the waistband of his boxers, but no further, he reached around her back and pulled her closer to him. His erection was pushing against her thigh and she wrapped her leg around his waist to bring him closer to her center, which made both of them moan loudly. He paused from her breast once again and watched as his hands slowly pushed her shorts and underwear over her hips and down her long legs. 

When she was completely naked before him, he rolled her onto her back once again and propped himself up on his arms so he could look at her. He thought of how many times he had imagined this moment; his imagination couldn’t compare to the amazing creature before him. His eyes traveled her body slowly, openly staring at what he could only steal glances at before. When his eyes settled on her face again, she looked a little nervous, and he kissed her lips, her nose, her forehead, and her lips again. “You are… there are no words.”

She smiled at him and he kissed her again, this time deeper. His hands continued the exploration his eyes had one moments ago began; she felt the heat of them on her shoulders, her breasts, her stomach, and then down to her thigh and her hip, and finally, she felt his fingers inside her and she moaned loudly and bit down on his lip as her hips came off the bed to meet him.

She could barely breathe, but somehow she managed to reach down and push on his boxers. He continued what he was doing and she couldn’t stop squirming, but finally she got the boxers over his hips and pushed up towards him once again.

He pulled back from the kiss and looked at her, reading her eyes. He took his hand away from her and she moaned again, but a moment later he was filling her completely and she was breathless.

He made love to her slowly, deliberately, whispering to her over and over again how amazing she was and how much he loved her, while alternating between kissing her, her breasts, and simply burying his head in her neck. When he felt her climax hitting her, he pulled his head back so he could watch her face. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open, her tongue lying on her lip. She threw her head back into the pillow and said his name loudly as her hands clutched his shoulders and her fingernails dug into his back. Only when she was done did he begin thrusting into her again, a few more times before going over the edge himself, her name on his lips.

He lay on top of her for a few more minutes, both of them breathing heavily, trying to kiss between pants of breath, and then finally rolled them so he was on his back and she was draped over him like a blanket. A few minutes later, they were both asleep.


	17. 15A - Alternate Ending

Slowly coming into consciousness, she felt his hand lightly roaming her back, his fingers barely touching her. She smiled and turned her head a little, so she could kiss the chest she was lying on. “Morning,” she said, looking up at his face.

He looked down at her and smiled. “I thought you’d sleep longer.”

“What time is it?”

“Not quite 7,” he said, leaning down and kissing her forehead, unable to reach her lips.

“We went to bed 9 hours ago.”

“Well, yes. But then we… “ he began waving a hand between them. “And then we woke up a few hours later and… again.”

She chuckled at his inability to use words. “Yes, and as I recall, both times were rather enjoyable.”

“Extremely enjoyable,” he said, pulling her up so they were face to face.

She kissed him full on the lips. “Amazingly enjoyable.” 

He rolled them so she was underneath him and attacked her neck, biting, licking, sucking on her. When he moved from her neck to her earlobe, she moaned and he laughed lightly. “Well, I am amazing.”

She couldn’t help laughing at his ego, which she found extremely sexy. Still, she had to keep him in line, so while he was busy with her ear and neck, she let her hands drift down to his butt, raking her fingernails over him lightly. He bit down on her ear and groaned, then pulled back and looked at her like she was pure evil. “I think the amazingness was a joint effort,” she said, her eyebrows raised.

“I don’t think ‘amazingness’ is a word,” he said in an extremely low sexy voice and kissed her deeply. Their tongues danced together for several minutes as their hands fought to see who could make who moan or jump the most. Donna finally won when she bent her leg at the knee, bringing her thigh in contact with his erection.

Not to be outdone, Josh left Donna’s lips and began kissing his way down her body. He spent several minutes on her breasts, one with his hand, the other with his mouth, learning exactly what it was that made her sigh, what it was that made her moan, and what it was that made her arch her back into him. And when he grazed the side of her breast with his fingertips, he even discovered what it was that made her giggle.

He traveled down further, to her bellybutton, which made her giggle more, making him laugh a little himself, and then to her hip bone, where he bit down lightly and her giggling stopped altogether as her moans grew louder. “Josh, as much as I like what you’re thinking there, we don’t have time for that.”

He stopped his movements and looked up at her as if she had just announced that a republican had been elected president. “You tell me this now, after we’ve… started?” he asked in a very squeaky and she thought not very sexy voice at all. Still, the look in his eyes was of pure desire, which she thought more than made up for the voice.

“I just meant that we don’t have time for…” now it was her turn to wave her hands between them, not wanting to say it. He smiled and started kissing the inside of her thigh, higher this time, which made it somewhat difficult to think. “That. We’re on a tight schedule, we need to move to the…ahh…”

“Yes?” he asked, innocently, sucking on her skin.

“The main event,” she panted out.

“But,” he said, nipping at her leg. “This is fun.”

Her head rolled back and she closed her eyes. “Very.”

He laughed into her leg. “So, I say we make time.”

She took several deep breaths before responding. “Yeah, I agree.”

**********

An hour later, they lay in bed, curled up together like there was no one else in the world, when Josh’s cell phone rang. Looking at the caller id, he groaned. “Leo?” Donna asked.

“Yeah, senior staff.” Leo told him he could stay with his mom for a while longer, but that starting today, he had to be working from Florida as much as possible, including senior staff by phone.

She kissed him on the nose. “I’m getting into the shower.” The thought of Donna in the shower only made him groan again. When she got out from underneath the covers and walked naked into the hallway, he groaned one more time and finally answered the phone.

“Lyman.”

“Josh, how’s your mother doing?”

Started by the President’s voice, he jumped out of bed and grabbed his boxers. There was no way he was going to have a conversation with the President while he was naked after having sex with his assistant. “Good morning, Mr. President. She, umm, she started therapy yesterday, Sir.”

“She’s stable, then?”

“Yes Sir. Her doctor’s confident that we can move her up there in a week or two.”

“Is that going to be a permanent move?” Leo asked over the speakerphone.

“Yeah. Mom’s having an MRI this morning followed by five hours of therapy, so Donna and I are using the time to do some packing and find a realtor to sell the condo. If things go as planned, Donna’ll be flying back there tomorrow night. I’ll probably be here most of the week.”

“That’s fine, Josh,” said President Bartlet. “Now, what’s going on with Matt Skinner and this new draft we’re supposed to be getting today on the Highway Repair Bill?”

**********

When Josh got off the phone, he went downstairs, where he found Donna wrapping a picture frame in newspaper and placing it into a box. When he looked around the living room, he saw six other boxes, packed and labeled. “How long was I on the phone?” he asked.

“Long enough for me to call the hospital twice, shower, go to Wal-Mart, call the guy from Century 21 the therapist recommended, and start packing.”

“Seriously?”

“Josh, haven’t you ever noticed that senior staff either lasts ten minutes or two hours, but nowhere in between?”

“No, not really.” He said, generally surprised.

“Well, it does.”

He started poking through the box she was packing and she swatted his hand. “What’d the guy from Century 21 say?”

“He’ll be here at eleven. There are Grape Nuts in the kitchen.”

“Donna!” he whined. “I hate Grape Nuts.”

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. “I know.” He looked at her like a pitiful five year-old, and she started laughing and gave in. “There are Fruity Pebbles too,” she said with a sigh.

“You do love me!” He kissed her on the mouth before walking into the kitchen.

“You can’t stay in there all day, you have to help pack,” she called after him.

**********

The meeting with the realtor was brief and to the point. Josh explained the situation to the man and showed him his power of attorney, proving that he was indeed allowed to sell the condo. He and Donna already had all of Elizabeth’s mortgage paperwork ready for him and told him that by the end of the week, the condo would be empty. Within a half hour, they’d set an asking price and had all the paperwork in progress. The realtor was a trusted friend of Elizabeth’s physical therapist, and had dealt with situations like this numerous times before. He assured Josh that everything would be fine and was gone by 11:45.

Once he left, they concentrated their packing efforts on Elizabeth’s personal items, such as books, pictures, and clothes. Deciding he simply didn’t have the time or energy to sell the other things, Josh made a few phone calls and found a battered women’s organization that helped women who had run from abuse situations find and furnish homes. Volunteers would be coming the next day to not only take the things Josh was donating to them, but to pack them up, which made for one less thing he and Donna had to worry about. He was donating his mom’s Buick to the organization as well, but not until Elizabeth was transferred to DC.

Everything they kept fit into twelve boxes, which fit easily into Elizabeth’s car. By 1:00, Josh was taking them to the UPS store to have them shipped to his brownstone. It seemed sad to him that his mother’s life fit into twelve boxes, but as hard as it was to admit, he knew she wouldn’t need the other things again. 

When he got back to the condo, he walked immediately to Donna, who was standing in the entrance to the living room, and kissed her, tipping her back a bit and letting his hand wonder up the front of her shirt. Startled, it took her a minute to respond, and even then, she did so trying not to laugh. Finally, she hit him lightly on the shoulder and pulled away from him. She pointed over his shoulder at Betty and Russell, who were sitting on the couch smirking at him.

“Oh, hi,” he said, embarrassed.

“Well, I see you are smart after-all,” said Betty. “I’d been wondering why we let you run the government.”

“You gonna help me out here, Russell?” asked Josh with a smile as he walked up and gave Betty a hug.

“Leave the boy alone, Betty. I don’t know what his reasons were for not marrying this piece of heaven the minute he met her, but I’m sure he had them.”

“I’m not sure you’re helping,” Josh said, letting Betty go and shaking the man’s hand.

“Sorry, Josh, but look at her. She’s gorgeous.” They both looked at Donna, who blushed. Then Russell looked at his wife. “Almost as beautiful as my bride,” he whispered to Josh, smiling. Josh smiled back and motioned for them to sit down. Donna sat in the chair catty corner from couch and Josh sat on the armrest of the chair, his arm around her shoulders.

“Betty brought us some lasagna over,” said Donna, lightly resting her hand on Josh’s thigh. 

Josh looked at Betty and gave her a huge dimpled smile. “I love lasagna!”

“I know,” she said smiling back at him. “We were on our way to the hospital, but Donna said that Elizabeth will be in therapy until three.” 

“Yeah, five hours a day,” he replied.

“Is it ok if we come by later this afternoon?” she asked him.

“Absolutely, I’m sure she’d love it. She… her short term memory is pretty shaky, just be prepared.”

Russell nodded at him. “Donna says you’re selling the condo, transferring her to DC when the doctors allow it.”

“Yes Sir, I think that’s best, at least for now.”

The room got quiet for a minute. “Well,” said Betty, cheerfully. “I’m sure she’ll like it there once she’s got a grandchild to hold.” Donna’s mouth dropped open and her hand flew up to cover it as her face turned ten shades of red. Josh just looked down and shook his head, smiling at how much this woman was like his mother. 

“I whipped Donna at cribbage Friday night. She was begging for mercy,” he said, changing the subject.

“Excuse me?” asked Donna, turning her head and looking at him like he was crazy.

“What? I won fair and square.”

“I was begging for mercy?”

“That’s the way I remember it.”

She looked back to Betty. “He won by six after I beat him seven times in a row.”

“Well…yes,” he said. “But after that game, she begged to stop playing. She knew I had mastered it and her winning streak was over.”

Donna looked back at him, trying not to smile at his ego. “I was sick to death of playing and it was becoming hard not beat you over the head with the board.”

He leaned down and kissed her. “Sure, whatever.”

She kissed him back and then looked at Betty. “Do you have any advice for me on this?” she asked, hooking her thumb at Josh.

Betty smiled. “Don’t worry about it dear. He knows he can’t live without you. That gives you all the power.” Donna smiled back and nodded her head, she like the idea of that.

“Now,” said Russell. “What can we do to help? Packing, cooking, making phone calls?”

“No,” said Josh. “You guys have already been great. I can’t ask you to do anything else.”

“You didn’t ask, we offered. Now tell us, what do you need?” Betty said in a tone that dared him to back talk.

Josh looked at them both for a minute. “Well, Donna’s going back to DC tomorrow night, and I’m probably going back by the end of the week. If you could… I don’t know, maybe spend some time at the hospital with her once I’m gone. I’d feel better knowing she wasn’t alone all the time.”

“Consider it done. If we can’t make it ourselves, we’ll have someone there everyday after therapy,” Russell said.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

“She’s a good friend, we’re happy to help.”

**********

The next night, he stood outside the security checkpoint, holding Donna’s hand and kicking the overnight bag by his feet. “My plane boards in ten minutes. I need to go.”

“How am I supposed to sleep at night without you here?” he asked, still looking down at the bag.

She smiled at him. “You’re 42 years old. You’ve managed fine so far.”

He shrugged. “It’s different now,” he said, still not looking at her. 

She looked at him and her smile faded. “Yeah, it is,” she whispered. “It’s only for a few days, if all goes well.”

“Yeah,” he said, quietly, picking his chin up and looking at her shyly. “Can I come over when I fly in Thursday night?”

She couldn’t help smiling at him again. “Of course.”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “Can we move all your things to my place this weekend?”

Her eyes shot up. “What?” 

“Move in with me,” he said, smiling so big his dimples were showing.

“Why?”

“So you can change the brownstone into something I barely recognize and re-stock the bathroom with your girly stuff. So there’s not enough closet space left for my clothes and I’m forced to buy another dresser. So Sunday football will pretty much be out of my life for good and I’ll only be allowed to stock light beer in the fridge…”

“Josh.”

“What do you mean, why? So I can fall asleep holding you every night and wake-up holding you every morning. I want every part of you in my life and I want to share every part of my life with you. I love you, that’s why.”

She couldn’t help smiling at him. “Well, that’s a pretty good answer.”

“So you’ll move in with me?”

She nodded. “I will. But… we’re going to talk to CJ first. And if she wants us to wait…” he started to object and she held up her hand. “If she wants us to wait a reasonable amount of time for P.R. reasons, we will.”

He looked at her for a minute, looking for a flaw in her argument. He finally agreed. “Fine, but I have a say in what is regarded as ‘a reasonable amount of time.’”

“Deal.” She looked at him another minute. “I have to go.”

“I know,” he said, pulling her close and kissing her lightly, but lingering on her lips. When they broke apart, she picked up her bag and walked to the checkpoint. He watched as she went through the metal detector and picked her bag up on the other side. She was still only about ten feet from him. “Donna?” he called out all of a sudden.

She looked back over her shoulder at him. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.” 

She hitched her bag up on her shoulder. “For what?”

He shrugged. “For being here. For helping with my mom. For loving me.”

She smiled that thousand-watt smile that he adored. “See you in two days,” she said, before turning around and walking down the corridor to her flight.


End file.
